Entanglement
by mtm
Summary: When truth rips Peter apart, the fallout ripples through the multiverse.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I had so many ideas after Jacksonville, that I don't know what kind of a mess I will eventually make. This starts immediately where the episode left us. Please let me know what you think!**

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**Entanglement**

**~ One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope. ~ **

** (****Steven Dietz)**

**Chapter 1.**

Peter came back to the door with his coat on, feeling giddy and a spring to his step, only to be faced with Olivia with an unexplained look on her face staring at Walter who was looking ashamed and begging at the same time. The atmosphere was palpably strained. When he asked groaning, "What did he do now?" both Olivia and Walter whipped their head around to stare at him instead.

Peter got a heavy feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

"What is going on?" he asked looking from Olivia to Walter, but mainly trying to read Olivia's face.

"Peter, you go ahead to the restaurant. I just need to talk to Walter for a second," Olivia answered with a flat voice, which made Peter even more worried.

"He didn't talk about us getting married and trying to get me to wear his purple tuxedo, did he?" Peter asked flippantly trying to lighten the mood while trying to hide his worry.

Olivia visibly startled at his words and with a voice resembling somewhat her normal timbre she answered, "No.. No, he didn't say anything about a wedding" while looking again at Walter.

Peter looked at the two while walking to the door, unsure what was going on, but sensing that it was something massively important. But if Olivia didn't want him there, who was he to argue although it did hurt. A feeling he tried to shove to the back of his mind.

When he was walking past Olivia, she reached out to set her hand on his arm stopping him.

"Wait for me. Please." Olivia pleaded quietly, looking at him with unveiled eyes, but if possible that made Peter even more nervous and worried as he couldn't make sense of the mercurial shift of all the emotions, but he only softly smiled and nodded.

"I will," he said softly leaning towards Olivia slightly before heading out of the door.

He walked the couple of blocks to the restaurant, which had a nice bar, soft music and smoky lightning making privacy surprisingly easy. There were people around, but it wasn't too busy so he could easily slip to the bar and reserve two seats. He gestured to the bartender for a drink while he waited, trying not to get too anxious. He trusted Olivia. She would turn up as she had promised and he trusted her to tell him what was going on with Walter. He just hoped she would tell him sooner rather than later.

XXX

Olivia waited until she was sure that Peter wasn't within earshot and turned towards Walter, with icy coldness in her voice.

"What have you done?" she demanded quietly, almost hissing. Walter took few steps back as he was suddenly afraid of this woman in front of him who usually was a polite and pleasant person.

Olivia was surprised herself at the anger and rage that she wanted to unleash, her sudden desire to physically shake Walter to see what other secrets would tumble from his mouth. She realised that part of that anger was behalf of Peter, who clearly didn't know anything, and partly because of herself. She had finally opened up to Peter, allowing herself to accept his comfort and companionship that he had offered for such a long time, only to be slapped across the face by Walter's meddling.

She took a step closer to Walter who was now cowering close to the wall.

"What have you done?!" Olivia demanded more loudly, getting angrier by the second. At that moment, the door bell rang making both Olivia and Walter to jump. A moment later when nobody answered the door, somebody came in with keys. Astrid stepped in only to stop in her track when she saw Walter cowering in front of Olivia.

"What's going on? Where is Peter?" Astrid asked carefully as she had picked up on the atmosphere immediately.

"Peter is from the Alternate Universe," Olivia said flatly, "And Walter begged me not to tell him," she continued turning back to look at the man, who still hadn't managed to get a coherent sentence out his mouth.

"Oh my god," Astrid gasped clutching her scarf in her hands, remembering.

"Walter said earlier that he can't let Peter die again. He never answered what he meant by that." Astrid said to Olivia. She walked closer to Walter and carefully managed to manoeuvre him to sit on the sofa, while looking worriedly at Olivia who she had never seen so angry before.

Once Astrid sat next to Walter and Olivia sat on the armchair, Astrid managed to get Walter talking. He was still glancing fearfully at Olivia, but he also seemed to be consumed by grief.

"When Peter was about 6 years old, he became very sick," Walter started.

"He died," Walter whispered tears in his eyes while reliving the past. Astrid was stroking his back soothingly while Olivia watched stone faced.

"I was grief stricken. When he was alive I rarely paid much attention to him, preferring his mother to spend time with him, but when he was gone, I felt like my heart had been ripped form my chest. William Bell saw my state and he started cultivating the idea in my head to go to the Alternate Universe and take their Peter to replace mine."

"We had experimented with crossing over before and had succeeded few times. I still don't know where Belly got the idea from in the first place as it was his idea originally to try to make contact with the Other Side. He seemed to see some bigger picture that he never divulged to me," Walter told them haltingly.

"We were successful. But once Peter was on our side, we realised that he needed help to be able to adjust to this reality and the Electrical Shock and Deep Brain Stimulation therapies are probably the reason for him not remembering crossing over or even his early childhood," Walter continued burying his face in his hands.

"That's why he doesn't know?" Olivia asked with cold detachment as if she let her marginal control over her emotions slip, she wouldn't be able to stop herself doing something that she might regret later.

"You never thought about telling him?!" she was raising her voice once again as she couldn't believe Walter's logic.

"No," whispered Walter.

"I never got the chance as I wanted to wait until he was older, but by then Belly had me sectioned into St. Claire's and when I finally got him back when you, Olivia, came to me, first I didn't even remember it. Then I just wanted him to love me so I couldn't tell him. Please, don't tell him! I can't lose him again!" Walter finished pleading with tears in his eyes.

Astrid looked up at Olivia who was sitting still, clearly mulling things over. All of the sudden she asked Astrid, "Are you going to stay?"

Astrid nodded as that had been the plan and judging by the mess of a man next to her, he couldn't be left alone. Astrid still felt sorry for him regardless what he had done.

Olivia stood up and walked to the door. Walter pleaded once more, but she only looked at him with cold eyes, and without saying anything walked out of the door.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you killmotion and Observer101 for reviewing. And thank you all the people who put this story into their story alerts. I hope you will tell me at some point whether you like it or not. Pretty please? :)**

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**Chapter 2.**

Olivia was numb. She pushed her hands deeper into her jacket's pockets, her blonde hair whipping behind her head in the wind, while she kept her gaze on the ground, deep in her thoughts. Her legs were automatically taking her to the restaurant where Peter was waiting for her, her mind left free to try to gather all the broken pieces together. For once in her life, she didn't know what to do.

She wanted to tell Peter as he deserved to know the truth. How the man who he was finally coming to love as a father, had betrayed him. Had kept this secret all these years. When finally he had settled down and made a commitment to be there for Walter and for her, the carpet was pulled from underneath him, just because Walter had to put his nose in where it didn't belong. It wasn't fair how Peter would suffer because of what Walter had done. Would he want to return to his real family? Would he want to go back? Could he go back?

And that brought her to the other side of the argument raging in her head. Why would Peter need to know? It didn't change anything as he had grown up here and he belonged to this Universe now. It wouldn't harm him in any way if he didn't know. On the opposite, if he did know it would almost certainly destroy any relationship he had with Walter. But then if she kept this from him and he found out later, as he was bound to, it would destroy his trust in her and she was sure that he would leave. And she couldn't take that. Not now.

Olivia was torn and lost. And she hated the feeling of helplessness that was welling up inside her. She was still almost desperately furious as this evening was suppose to be a happy moment in all the darkness to come and now she was once again faced with dilemma, once again the weight of decision was heavy on her as she knew Walter would never tell Peter the truth on his own.

She came to a halt in front of the restaurant door and watched all the happy people inside for a moment. She took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the door and stepped inside.

XXX

Peter sat at the bar nursing his drink. The place had been filling up slowly, but he had managed to hold on to the other chair, reserving it for Olivia. He was getting unsettled though as she was nowhere to be seen.

He went through several scenarios in his head why Olivia would be so angry at Walter and why she might want to talk to him alone, but nothing particular came to his mind. It could be about all the experiments done on her when she was a child but she had managed to get some of that out of her system earlier in Jacksonville and she wasn't one to let things fester inside her.

He was rolling his glass of whisky in his hands, mesmerised by the brown liquid sloshing about, when he felt a presence behind him. He turned and saw Olivia stepping in from the street. She was looking around, obviously looking for him so he waved at her direction catching her eye. To his relief, her eyes immediately lit up and a smile was on her face although it quickly became guarded and she seemed almost troubled.

Olivia quickly managed to pass through the crowd, coming to stand beside him.

"I was getting worried," Peter said looking at her carefully. Something wasn't right and she looked nervous and torn. Her hair was also all over the place, evidence of the strong wind outside.

Peter lifted his hand and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, making Olivia smile softly and blush a little, which he found endearingly cute. She seemed to lean towards his touch, so he turned around on the bar stool leaving Olivia to stand in between his legs and gently cupped her face, repeating what he had done previously before Olivia went to her Save the world-mode. He slowly stroked Olivia's cheek, a warm feeling spreading inside him when she leaned against his palm closing her eyes.

Olivia couldn't help herself. When Peter encircled her with his frame and reached out to caress her face, she gave in to her longing, which made her eyes to well up with tears with the knowledge of Walter's secret. She tightly shut her eyes, but couldn't help the tears seeping through her lashes.

Peter was alarmed when he saw the first tears as Olivia didn't cry easily. He acted on pure instinct.

"Come here," he whispered pulling Olivia to him, hugging her tightly and stroking her hair. He couldn't care less about the other people around them as all his attention was on Olivia. He concentrated on keeping his own anxiety and worry in check, breathing steadily and keeping his hands soothing and calm in her hair and back. There was nothing else but her.

Olivia burrowed deeply into Peter's chest, desperate to feel something solid holding onto her, anchoring her as she felt like the reality was unravelling around her. She felt almost immediately calm and her tears slowed down until they stopped altogether. Peter noticed the change as she heard his deep voice murmuring in her ear, "Let's go."

He loosened his hold, looking down at her and gently cupped her face with both of his palms wiping away any traces of the tears. He stood up and ushered her towards one of the booths in the far corner that was still empty. It didn't escape Olivia that Peter ushered her in first and sat down next to her, practically trapping her. He wasn't going to let her go, until he figured out what was going on.

As a gentleman he was, Peter gave her some breathing space to which Olivia was grateful. He kept his gaze steady on her though, being turned to face her and he held onto her hand, reluctant to let the physical connection go. He waited patiently, drawing lazy, wide circles on her palm.

"I don't know what to do!" Olivia blurted out all of the sudden, her eyes wide and startled. Peter lifted his eyebrow at her uncharacteristic outburst, although her behaviour had been slightly off since she stepped into the bar.

"What can I do?" Peter asked sincerely as he was ready to help Olivia with anything that managed to reduce her to tears. He didn't need to know what it was. He would do anything for her.

"Oh, Peter," Olivia sighed, surprising Peter when she shuffled closer to him lowering her head against his shoulder. Peter wrapped her closely to his frame.

"I'm pretty confused here," Peter confessed after a moment when Olivia stayed silent.

Olivia felt guilty enjoying the closeness and warmth of Peter but she needed to be calm to try to find any solution to the problem at hand and Peter's presence always calmed her. She also wanted to show him that she was ready to accept his comfort and whatever else he was willingly offering. She just wasn't sure that he would still want her around after he found out the truth. And she dreaded it. She felt like Peter was the other half of her and if she lost him, she would be only a shadow. It was only recently that she had acknowledged that she needed Peter and now she was so close to losing him.

She finally lifted her head and sat up straight, still very close to Peter as if she was afraid that he would run away. When Peter looked at her in the eye, he started wondering whether he actually should run away as Olivia looked absolutely terrified but also determined.

"You glimmer," Olivia stated while looking him straight in the eye.

"Excuse me?" Peter asked confused, which was quickly followed by a look of dread.

"Are you saying that I..." his voice faltered almost in whisper and his eyes were pleading for Olivia to make him wrong.

Olivia swore at his high IQ. Of course it wouldn't take him long to connect the dots.

"You are from the Other Side, " Olivia continued for him and now it was her turn to let her fingers slide across his knuckles while looking at him, afraid what his next move would be. This was so foreign territory that she didn't have a clue what Peter would do. Hell, she wouldn't have a clue what she would do if someone landed a bomb like this in her lap!

"Walter confirmed it. He begged me not to tell you, but I couldn't, I won't, lie to you," Olivia said in a rush to a stunned Peter.

"But how..? Why..? When..?", Peter struggled to say anything as all coherent thought left him after Olivia's revelation. He looked dazed and Olivia wanted to do something for him, but she didn't know what. She got angrier with herself by the second as she didn't have a clue how to help a person who was very important to her and who needed her. And who she needed in turn.

Peter suddenly got up almost making Olivia fall against the bench as she had been leaning against his shoulder and was taken by surprise when he suddenly moved. Peter started walking towards the door making Olivia to jump up and run after him.

"Peter, where are you going?" Olivia asked him when they got outside, stopping him by standing in front of him.

Peter looked down at her and grimly said, "Walter has some explaining to do". The silent fury in his eyes finally made Olivia understand why many of his former associates had been afraid of him.

XXX

Peter burst in from the door, a dark, brewing storm ready to explode.

"Walter," he shouted while Olivia stepped in after him closing the door behind them.

Peter wasn't patient and with few long strides was in the kitchen where Walter and Astrid had been playing the Monopoly, Walter now cowing in front of Peter. Astrid had stood up and gotten out of the way as she was now standing her back against the sink, watching in panic how the angry Peter was literally lifting Walter up and dragging him to the living room and dropping him on the sofa.

Peter was standing in front of him and demanded, "Explain this to me!"

Olivia was standing close by, her expression changing from worried and anxious when looking at Peter, to cold anger when looking at Walter.

"You told him! I asked you not to tell him," Walter pitifully wailed at Olivia.

"I refuse to lie to him," Olivia calmly answered, although her eyes betrayed the chaos reigning in her head. Astrid had come to stand next to her, although she looked terrified and ready to bolt through the door.

"Tell me," Peter demanded sitting down on the coffee table in front of Walter. His voice was deceptively calm, but everyone could hear the fury under the surface.

"Tell me!"

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you killmotion, menapopina, skate-815, Bryn Elizabeth, Starlight77 and JTF2 for all the reviews. Didn't mean to sound quite so whiny... :) **

**All the science sounding bits are a merry fusion of fact and fiction and are most firmly in the domain of Fringe science!**

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**Chapter 3.**

To his credit Walter wasn't trying to get out of the situation. It seemed like he had given up now that the cat was out of the bag. He sat on the sofa, smoothing his trousers down with shaking hands, repeating the move over and over again until Peter landed his hand on his to stop the nervous tic. When Walter looked up, he could see that Peter was still angry, but also confused and hurt.

"Explain?" Peter asked Walter again with a slightly calmer voice. Even if he tried to resist it, seeing Walter so nervous and broken tugged his heart.

Walter looked down at his hands, trying to avoid Peter's eyes, trying to avoid seeing the accusation in them. So like his mother's eyes had been.

"Belly and I were investigating possible alternative energy sources for the military and the government in the late sixties, early seventies and came across obscure theories that are now considered mainstream. Quantum physics," Walter started.

The atmosphere became less charged in the room as it became evident that for once, Walter was going to be frank and give answers. Peter was still sitting on the coffee table in front of Walter, wearing his coat, but he had leaned backwards to give Walter some breathing space. Olivia was sitting down in one of the armchairs and Astrid had sat down on the same sofa with Walter, but kept to the other end. They all had eyes only for Walter.

"Physicists were speculating about zero point energy, the vacuum energy that was claimed to be infinite, but impossible to harness. We took the challenge."

"We knew about the existence of alternate universes and hypothesised that they could be used as a kind of Casimir force plates developing a vacuum fluctuation battery, but using whole realities instead of metal plates," Walter explained, his voice gathering strength and conviction. When he noticed that Olivia and Astrid looked blank he elaborated.

"Zero point energy would push two neighbouring universes even closer, so called Casimir effect, and we would apply an energy source to counteract this effect causing repulsive force to push the universes apart. Adjusting the energy source would lead again to the domination of Casimir effect, which would increase the energy between the different universes as they were in a tug of war, thus converting zero point energy into electrical energy, giving us a clean infinite source of energy," Walter was explaining his arms waving about as he was getting excited as he was revisiting the memories.

Peter looked sceptical and annoyed.

"What does this have to do with anything?" he asked once again getting angry at Walter's habit of losing the importance of the matter at hand.

"Please, wait! This is important," Walter pleaded Peter, shuffling closer to him as if trying to stop him from leaving. He started reaching out to touch Peter, but he lifted his hands up in a clear sign to stay clear so Walter dropped his hands dejectedly.

"We were behind the large earthquake in Peru in 1970, causing 66,000 deaths," Walter nearly whispered.

"The military was testing a nuclear device, which was supposed to give us the energy needed. What it did was only to move us closer to the other reality. We only found out about it later. At that point, both Belly and I considered the experiment a failure and moved on," Walter finished.

"We soon realised that there were spontaneous breaches between our universes and that it was possible to move between them, although with a great cost and effort. Later on we understood that the breaches were becoming more and more frequent and that our efforts in harnessing the zero point energy were to blame for the increasing proximity. We had disturbed the balance."

"Belly had his own research going on at that point and he had an assistant. A lovely lady with a red hair..," Walter was lost in his memories for a moment until he jolt started again.

"At that point we were conducting the Cortexiphan trials to develop a group of people who could cross over and bring back the more advanced technology from the Alternate Universe as they seemed to be technologically more advanced than us. We were greedy and also pushed by the military and the government," Walter said looking at Olivia trying to make her understand why she had been subjected to the tests. Olivia looked angry as this was even worse than being made into a soldier. The original plan sounded like they were building their own mercenary troops!

"Then you... Then Peter became ill. I hadn't been home that much and didn't know that he had befriended a man. A bald man, who was always wearing a suit," Walter stuttered while looking at Peter.

Peter didn't betray what was going on in his head as he was done with displaying his vulnerability. He had gotten used to hiding it and it looked like that had been the best policy. He was surprised though about the mention of the Observer and looked at Olivia, who looked intrigued. He nodded at Walter to continue.

"What my wife told me later, was that she suspected that Peter got that odd infection from him as he had told Peter that he travelled a lot and as nobody could clearly diagnose him as they claimed that the pathogen was a completely novel organism. At that point I dismissed her as I was still blaming her for getting you sick," Walter said sadly.

"You were blaming my mother!? You were never around so don't even try to put all this on her," Peter felt the anger rising again until he realised what he had said and was left confused.

"Well, apparently not my mother after all," Peter whispered almost to himself.

Walter looked mortified and ready to start crying.

"When Peter died, I was grief stricken and lost myself in work. I got the idea from Belly to open a doorway to the Alter-verse as we had already succeeded in crossing over, to bring their Peter here. During our experimentations, we had noted how similar their world was to ours and had tracked down our other selves out of curiosity so we knew that you existed," Walter said.

"One night we prepared our mission and I crossed over to take you back with me," Walter said looking at Peter, afraid how he was taking all this, but couldn't make out any expression on his face.

Olivia was clearly getting worried about the lack of reaction from Peter and came to sit beside him. She sat close enough to be fully in contact with his shoulders and arms, but didn't reach for his hand as she suspected that he would withdraw from her and she couldn't cope with that. So she tried to offer her silent support by her presence.

Peter tensed when she sat down but didn't move away. He didn't relax either.

"When we came back, the ice on the lake couldn't take the weight of the car where we were travelling and we plunged into the freezing, dark water. Drowning until the Observer pulled us out, explaining that he needed to correct a mistake of his own making. At that point it didn't make any sense, but it must have meant that he was indeed the source of Peter's illness," Walter concluded.

"It was difficult for you to adjust and the Electric Shock and Deep Brain Stimulation therapies were the only ways to help in the process. After that your mother was always angry at me. She was overcome by guilt as well as torn apart by relief and love as she dearly loved you, but felt immensely guilty of depriving another family of their son," Walter said quietly, now wringing his hands together. This time Peter didn't stop him.

Peter got up as it became clear that Walter had finished. He walked to the door, opening it and stopped. Without turning he said, "I need some air," and walked out of the door, leaving a room full of heavy silence behind him.

Olivia watched Peter with a tight feeling in her throat. She ached to go to him, to somehow help, but she didn't know how. So she did what was normal for her, she channelled her feelings into anger and leashed it.

Olivia turned to look at Walter, who was now openly crying while distressed looking Astrid was trying to comfort him. Astrid looked at Olivia and the look of confusion and fear made her lose her anger a little.

"We wouldn't be here if you had kept your nose out of what wasn't your business in the first place," Olivia said tersely.

"If you hadn't been meddling with the Alternate Universe, the Observer wouldn't have kept an eye on you and wouldn't have come anywhere near Peter," Olivia continued angrily.

She was so tired of all the turns and twists and the different Alter-verses, she couldn't keep her head straight any more. She didn't even want to think about what Walter's revelation meant as it sounded like they were the bad guys and the shape-shifters, William Bell and the lot were the good guys. Where did Peter fit into all this? And where did she fit in?

XXX

Peter headed out and walked aimlessly until all of the energy seemed to ooze out of him all of the sudden. He stumbled to a nearby bench and sat down, putting his head into his hands.

His brain was going on overdrive. It was cataloguing all the minute details and twirling them around, building a framework and it seemed to go around in circles, repeating itself over and over again, rearranging all the building blocks.

He wasn't that bothered about the fact that he was from another reality, although it did make him feel odd and opened another whole can of worms, but rather that his life had been a lie. And he had suffered because what Walter had done, causing suffering to countless other people around them.

He felt betrayed. He felt like a deep, dark chasm had opened up in his chest and he was collapsing inwards in an ever faster moving spiral. He started hyperventilating.

He felt a tentative touch on his lower back and knew that Olivia had found him. He didn't want to talk and luckily they were still connected enough for her to pick up on it as she sat silently next to him, keeping her hand on his back while he struggled to control his breathing.

After a while Peter's voice came muffled from behind his hands still covering his face, "I don't know what to think."

He finally straightened up and looked at Olivia with eyes brimming with bewilderment, hurt and also a hint of fear.

"What am I suppose to do?" he whispered looking utterly lost and broken.

Olivia felt something break inside her. She wordlessly reached for Peter who willingly came to her arms, burying his face into her hair, holding onto her tightly. Soon the wetness followed as Peter quietly wept and she tried to gather him even closer to her, while her own tears where threatening to escape. She was overwhelmed, but one thought was clear and loud in her mind. Peter still trusted her.

When she had left the Bishop's house, Olivia had decided that her loyalty lied with Peter and she would be stuck with him, come what may and surprisingly once she had made the conscious decision, it felt right. It felt like somebody had been waiting for her to see reason and now that it had happened, everything was right in the world. She could only wish...

They sat on the bench holding each other until Peter's tears ran dry and he seemed to shake less than before. Olivia gently tugged at him and said, "Let's go."

Peter didn't resist, but followed her lead, getting up and walking to her nearby car. It didn't even cross his mind to question how she had found him. At this particular moment, Peter had given himself over to Olivia's hands. She was the only one that he would show his true self as she was the only constant in his world. So he let his body function on autopilot while he dived deep into his mind to try to make sense of his world.

Olivia drove them to her house. She got out of the car, went to other side to open Peter's door and took a hold of his hand leading him inside. She stopped only to shed her jacket and shoes while Peter passively stood by the door and seemed to be lost in his head. She helped him out of his jacket and shoes before taking his hand again.

She hesitated for a moment, between her sofa and her bed, but decided on the bed and led Peter to her bedroom. Peter seemed to surface for a moment as he stopped at the foot of the bed and looked questioningly at Olivia

Olivia had already shed some of her clothes and was now wearing only her panties and a vest. She was too exhausted and ragged to change into anything else and this was Peter for goodness sake. He had seen her wearing less before.

Olivia climbed in between the sheets and rested her head tiredly on the pillow. She looked at Peter who was still standing in the same spot, clearly unable to make a decision in his present state. Olivia patted the bed next to her.

Peter seemed to give in without a fight and stripped off tiredly, only leaving his boxers and a t-shirt on, before slipping under the duvet that Olivia was holding back for him. He was lying on his side looking at Olivia, his eyes red and puffy, trying to smile.

"Thank you," he whispered quietly.

"You are welcome," Olivia whispered back, gently stroking his stubbled cheek until his eyes were closing and he fell into exhausted sleep. She moved closer and manoeuvred her arms around him, trying not to wake him. He snuggled closer to her and they ended up with Peter's head on Olivia's shoulder allowing her to run her fingers through his hair, until she fell asleep with the scent of Peter following her into her dreams.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you killmotion, RDJluver333, Skate-815, donnak, Bryn Elizabeth and Starlight77 for reviewing. You guys are great! **

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**Chapter 4.**

Olivia gradually floated up towards awakeness, feeling warm and comfortable. Her subconscious had already processed the scent of Peter, enabling her to wake up slowly without freaking out even when she felt someone stroking her hair and holding her close. Or rather she was sleeping on that someone.

She smiled to herself as she was now mostly awake. The hand in her hair stopped momentarily in response to the smile, but continued its slow path in her hair after a brief hesitation.

"Good morning," Olivia said sleepily lifting her head to look into the eyes of one Peter Bishop who seemed to be awfully comfortable in her bed.

"Morning," Peter answered smiling, which turned into a wide grin when Olivia snuggled even closer to Peter's chest.

"Somehow I didn't see you for the snuggling type," Peter said, the smile visible in his voice.

Olivia smiled to herself again. It felt so natural and comfortable to have Peter here with her, there was no awkwardness, no sense of fear. Yesterday was still fresh in Olivia's mind, but she wanted to experience this with Peter. This calm, easy morning with the sun shining through the window and both of them enjoying each other's company.

Peter kept stroking Olivia's hair, while she contently was dozing off, when he said all of the sudden, "Thank you for telling me."

Olivia lifted her head up again and tried to shake the last webs of sleep from her brain, while looking at Peter, who looked remarkably calm. His eyes gave him away though.

"I won't lie to you," Olivia said firmly while lifting herself up on her right elbow so she was gazing at Peter from above.

"You are my partner," Olivia said quietly while trying to convey all the multitude of meanings with her eyes. She wasn't very good at talking about her feelings, but she knew Peter would be able to read her, especially when she wasn't trying to hide.

Peter's face melted into a tender smile and his eyes confirmed that he had indeed understood the implications of Olivia's words. He pulled her down to him and hugged her tightly.

When he finally let go of her, they both scooted up on the bed so they were resting against the head board.

"How are you doing?" Olivia asked Peter hesitantly as she was reluctant to destroy the mood, but she knew they had to talk about this now, when everything was still fresh as otherwise it would be so easy to just let it lie.

She was resting her head on Peter's chest while his hands were still roaming between her hair, back and arm. A gentle, continuous movement calming them both.

"I'm surprised..," Peter started and fell silent. Olivia let him set the pace as she was content to wait, especially if it meant more time on Peter's arms.

"I'm not that upset about coming from Over There," Peter mused.

"It's like saying that I'm from Europe; a place similar to ours, but still different," Peter said smiling a little to which Olivia chuckled.

"It's not really weirder than being told that you are adopted, although in this case the parents weren't willingly giving up their child" Peter continued sounding thoughtful.

"This also better explains my nomadic tendencies and restlessness and the fact that I don't feel like I belong anywhere," he continued.

"What gets to me, is Walter's deception. Involving at least both me and the other Bishop's, it feels like the lies and shadows were radiating from Walter outwards. The feel of betrayal is enormous and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure that I can forgive him," Peter said looking down at Olivia who was watching him closely. Seeing that Olivia wasn't going to interrupt, he continued.

"My arrival led to the tests and treatments by Walter, which destroyed my memories. It erased my life up to that point, taking away from me who I was. Basically the Peter from the Other Side died for me to emerge from the shell. So I'm not the Peter from this world, but I'm also not the Peter from the Other Side either. I'm the Peter Walter made me into, taking away my choice," Peter explained and Olivia could tell that he was getting upset.

She hugged him close and said, "You are my Peter. That's all I need to know."

Peter pressed his face into her hair. To Olivia it was clear that Peter was processing his thoughts by talking to her, using her as a kind of a sounding board, to which Olivia was grateful as it meant that she could do something for him.

"I have always highly valued trust and have been careful who I let close to me, so I feel even more betrayed that I let Walter in. And I feel angry at myself for trusting him," Peter said.

"I have always taken care of those close to me, have always kept them safe and now I feel like I have been used and tricked," Peter murmured his voice slightly wavering.

Olivia reached for his hand that was currently playing with her hair and brought it to her lips, kissing his palm and holding it against her cheek. She didn't want to interrupt Peter as he was clearly sorting things out in his head and didn't need her input. Not just yet. So she wanted to show her support by simple physical contact.

Peter increased the pressure against her cheek and stroked her face, following the curves and lines, gently brushing against her lips. Olivia couldn't help herself, but closed her eyes on the sensation.

She had never been this comfortable with anyone before, it felt like they were made for each other and that the physical proximity somehow had finally cemented the bond they both had been faintly aware of.

Olivia felt herself relax and opened up to the sensations Peter's touch was wakening in her. She almost felt like something else freed itself and her mind seemed to open up like a flower, eager to feel the touch of the sun.

She didn't have time to think about the sensation of unfurling or what it might mean as Peter's fingers were replaced by his lips. They were warm and gentle as he kissed her cheeks, her forehead and her nose, lingering at the corner of her mouth. When he withdrew leaving cool air in his wake, Olivia opened her eyes.

She stared directly into the intense, dark green eyes of Peter, who seemed to be waiting for her to open her eyes. Olivia became breathless and felt her heart constricting when she realised that he was waiting for her permission to continue. When Olivia's dazzling smile appeared on her face, Peter smiled in response and closed the distance finding her lips soft and welcoming.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm so glad that people are still enjoying this. Thank you lena maru, ibroughthomeababybumblebee, killmotion, BadWolf23 and cyn23 for reviewing!**

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**Chapter 5.**

Olivia could only surrender to the sensations, thinking was impossible when kissing Peter Bishop.

She had never experienced such subtle nuances emerging as one; gentleness, desire, warmth... Dipping in and out, but still woven together.

A loud growl brought her back to the reality. She rested her forehead against Peter's cheek and sheepishly apologised, "I'm so sorry."

Peter chuckled and rested one warm palm against Olivia's exposed stomach.

"I think we better feed you," he said smiling down at Olivia who was flushed from their kisses. She smiled and reluctantly untangled herself from Peter, missing his presence immediately.

"I hope you have some other food than cereals," he quipped remembering Olivia's eating habits. She stopped in the middle of pulling a robe on and hesitated.

"I don't think so. I wasn't expecting company," she teased smiling at Peter lounging in her bed.

Peter got up and found his clothes pulling them on.

"I'm going to head to the store to get something. You put the coffee on," he said coming to stand in front of Olivia. He pulled her into an embrace, kissed her long and sweetly, making Olivia to melt into a puddle at his feet and finally pressing a kiss to her forehead, smirking at her, well aware how he was affecting her.

He was still in awe over that revelation and was surprised about his own reaction to Olivia as she was affecting him as badly. He wouldn't know how to keep himself in check after finally feeling and tasting her, he didn't want to be separated from her and that scared him. He had never felt so completely consumed before, although it also felt right and the most natural thing to have happened to him. Curious...

But for now, he smiled and headed out of the door to find something to eat.

Olivia padded to the kitchen, setting on making the coffee, feeling like it was completely normal for Peter to have breakfast with her. She was so happy that she had decided to tell Peter the truth and that their relationship had already advanced to that stage where they could lean on each other.

That reminded her of Walter and Astrid. She felt guilty about the way they had dumped Walter on her. The poor girl must have had something else to do during the weekend than to babysit one mad scientist. She was surprised that Astrid hadn't called her already.

Olivia located her phone and dialled Astrid's number.

"Hi, it's Olivia."

XXX

When Peter got back with a bag full of food, he found Olivia in the kitchen on the phone. He groaned inwardly at the sight and hoped that they didn't have a case as he wanted to be with Olivia and sort out his head.

Olivia smiled at him and when Peter started unloading the bag, he realised that Olivia was speaking with Astrid.

"Thank you Astrid. We owe you," Olivia said hanging up.

She looked at Peter who was dishing out muffins, bagels and fruits.

"Astrid stayed the night with Walter. She said that after I left, Walter seemed to block the whole episode from his mind and haven't talked about it since," Olivia said.

"Typical Walter. The minute he should stand up and take responsibility, he regresses back to the old, mad scientist mode," Peter said tensely.

"Astrid said that he was very surprised to find her in the house this morning and wondered where you were. When she told him that you were with me and that she would spend the weekend with him, he bounced like an overexcited child and started talking about a wedding," Olivia carried on while reaching for the plates and cups in the cupboard.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then asked turning half way towards Peter, "What's with the wedding? This is the second time either of you have mentioned it."

Peter waved with his hand, "Walter got it into his head that I will marry you and was wondering whether you would call him dad. He also wanted me to wear his purple tuxedo."

He took the few steps to stand behind Olivia and enveloped her in his arms, nuzzling her neck just under the ear causing Olivia to forget what she was about to say.

"Have to give Walter that. He knew something was going on before we did," Peter's voice came muffled.

Olivia enjoyed the feel of Peter and when he started lightly kissing her neck, she arched her head back giving him better access. At that point her stomach decided to remind them again that it was hungry. They both started laughing.

They quickly set the table and Olivia hungrily attacked the food. Even Peter found himself to be hungry as he hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day.

They were eating in a companionable silence, until Peter suddenly said, "But it doesn't make sense."

Olivia looked up from her bagel waiting for him to elaborate.

"If Walter and William Bell experimented on Cortexiphan in the view of getting people to cross over and that plan was abandoned after the failed attempt to generate enough energy with the nuclear device in 1970, when it caused the Peru earthquake, why would they continue with the trials over 10 years later?" Peter asked waving his muffin around.

"Why did they go from talking about harnessing energy to war between Universes? We must be missing something," he continued while taking a bite of the muffin and chewing slowly.

"All this talk about coming war and the things already happening. What is the origin of it all? Does my being from Over There figure in somehow?" Peter asked Olivia looking worried and confused.

Olivia all of the sudden remembered something.

"Walter said that William Bell seemed to know the bigger picture, but never told Walter about it. He must be the one to know all the facts," Olivia said in a hurry putting down her mug of coffee.

"We need to go and see him," she finished, now quite certain what they needed to do.

"I'm all for it, but how are we going to cross over?" Peter wondered and then it came to him.

"Nina Sharp!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"I'll call her to meet with us," Olivia said reaching for her mobile and making the call.

Peter waited silently munching away his muffin. When Olivia put the mobile down on the table, she looked relieved and smiled.

"She will meet us in two hours at Massive Dynamic."

"So I suppose our meeting with the bed will have to wait," Peter quipped making Olivia laugh out loud.

They cleared the kitchen and decided that Olivia would get ready first and they would then drive back to the Bishop's for Peter to change clothes. Astrid should have taken Walter out by then so it should be quick and hassle free.

By the time they were both presentable and back in Olivia's car they were nervous and excited. Maybe they finally were in for some answers.

XXX

They were shown in to Nina Sharp's office. When she saw them she stood up from behind her desk and gestured towards the sofas on one side. She looked immaculate as usual and didn't look like they had disturbed her weekend at all.

"What can I do for you?" she asked when they were all sitting down.

"I'm from the Other Side," Peter said getting directly to the point.

"I see," Nina Sharp said not looking surprised at all.

"You knew?" Peter asked disbelieving. Was he the only one that hadn't known?

"I was Doctor Bell's assistant at the time and one of the people involved in bringing you over," she said calmly.

"I have been waiting for some time now for you to become aware of your origins and for Agent Dunham to regain her abilities. I take it that has happened for you to become aware of your status. I believe you now want to meet with Doctor Bell?" she continued looking at Olivia and Peter in turn.

"Yes. As soon as possible," Olivia confirmed.

"I will contact him and set up the meeting, but stay together as it might come very quickly and within a small window of opportunity," Nina Sharp advised them getting up from the sofa indicating that they were finished.

"It should be easier than last time as you, Peter, are from that side and thus should be able to move with ease between the Realities and as for you, Agent Dunham, you seem to have fully regained your abilities," the red haired woman continued.

"I will call you when it's time," she said dismissing them.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you donnak, Lixie87 and cyn23 for reviewing the previous chapter. Now after the fluffy bits we are getting down to the business of getting some answers :) Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 6.**

Olivia and Peter stepped out of the Massive Dynamic building to the street and paused in the early morning sunlight.

"How long are we going to wait?" Peter asked. He was still suspicious of how easily Nina Sharp had agreed to their request and how she hadn't asked any further question. Most likely she knew more than she was letting on, but it would have been useless to grill her as they were getting an access to the main source. Or so they hoped.

"I better call Broyles to warn him that we will suddenly be gone. There is no saying how much time has passed here in relation to Over There," Olivia said fishing her mobile out of her pocket. Before dialling, she looked at Peter hesitantly.

"Do I tell him about you?" she asked making Peter frown in thought.

"That might make him understand what we are about to do and why we were able to get Nina Sharp to help us," Peter said slowly, not quite sure himself whether he wanted more people to know than already did.

"OK," Olivia said and hit a speed dial. Peter could hear her side of the conversation and could see from her expression, which suddenly relaxed that Broyles didn't seem to object to their plan.

Olivia slipped the phone back to her pocket and turned to Peter who looked at her questioningly.

"He agreed to give us time to be on standby for the meeting. He said he was sorry when he heard what Walter had done," Olivia explained. Peter nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't comment. He seemed full of nervous energy as he looked around his hands in his pockets.

"Now what?" he asked looking back at Olivia.

"We could go back to your house to explain everything to Astrid and see what Walter thinks. If he's willing to admit that yesterday happened," Olivia suggested.

"Then we can go back to my place to wait for Nina's phone call," she continued.

Peter looked hesitant and tense after the mention of Walter, but seemed to deflate as he agreed to Olivia's plan. It did make sense as who knew how long they were going to be gone. And Walter was still his responsibility, not Astrid's.

They went back to Olivia's car and once they were in, Olivia rested her hand on Peter's. When he looked up, she said, "We are going to get through this."

Peter smiled at her tiredly lifting her hand to kiss her palm. He then closed his eyes taking a moment just to enjoy Olivia's fingers brushing against his stubble. After a moment, he opened his eyes seeming more energetic and said to smiling Olivia, "Let's go."

XXX

They parked outside the Bishop's house and climbed the stairs for Peter to open the door leaving Olivia to close it after they stepped in.

"Astrid? Walter?" Peter called out.

Astrid came from the kitchen, a relieved smile on her face. Peter cringed inside at his selfishness, for leaving Astrid to babysit Walter.

"You guys are back! Are you OK?" Astrid's expression turned into a worried one as she looked at Peter.

"I'm fine," Peter reassured her.

"Thank you for looking after Walter. Where is he?" he asked peering over Astrid into the kitchen.

"He is sitting inside the wardrobe. Said it made him feel safe," Astrid said sighing.

"Figures," mumbled Peter shaking his head as he briefly glanced at Olivia who looked serious.

"We need to talk to both of you," Olivia said to Astrid, who looked intrigued.

"I will try to get Walter out of the closet," Peter said and headed towards Walter's hiding place.

Astrid and Olivia walked into the kitchen where coffee was brewing. Olivia sat down at the table while Astrid went to get mugs from the cupboard. When she brought them back to the table she stirred Olivia from her thoughts.

"Is he really all right?" Astrid asked pointing her head towards where Peter had gone.

Olivia's face relaxed and said, "I think he will be fine."

"Thank God! I was so worried about him. I don't know what to think about Walter though, he was so devastated and sad when you left. I feel sorry for him too," Astrid said quietly as she poured coffee into two mugs.

Olivia didn't comment so they sat quietly at the table, sipping their coffees waiting for Peter and Walter.

XXX

When Peter left Olivia and Astrid in search for Walter, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel. He felt betrayed and angry at Walter and he definitely couldn't trust him any more if he ever had. On the other hand, he was still the only father he remembered and after spending a long time at St. Claire's he wasn't the man he used to be. In a sense Peter had been born after Walter's tests and treatments, when the Peter from Over There had been wiped away, but so also had Walter as he had emerged from St. Claire a different man with parts of his brain removed. Not exactly comparable, but it did lessen Peter's anger somewhat.

However he did feel like he was cut open and everything that he thought he was, was pouring out of him while he was frantically trying to put everything back in. He was wounded, but it wasn't the first time he had to remain functional while the rest of him was busy trying to stay in one piece. He sighed at the thought wondering when he would have the time to be able to heal in peace.

He had also taken the responsibility of Walter and if anything, he kept his word. Especially when it included family, which was ironic as he wasn't biologically related to Walter.

He grudgingly admitted to himself that he cared about him, he was the only family that he had left and Walter seemed to genuinely care about him. However Peter was careful when thinking about how true Walter's feelings were as it looked now that they included a big heap of guilt and secrets.

Peter arrived in the bedroom where the wardrobe was. Walter heard him coming as he shouted from within, the closed door muffling his voice.

"Go away!"

"Walter, it's me," Peter said in a neutral voice as he knocked on the door. He could hear the silence and then the door opened slightly making Peter to step back.

Walter looked carefully out as if he didn't believe his ears and when his eyes landed on Peter, his face blossomed into a smile.

"Peter! You came back!" he said stepping out and reaching for Peter, but then he seemed to remember why he had left in the first place as his expression switched into an anguished grief.

"I'm so sorry Peter. So sorry," he said while wringing his hands in front of him and walking backwards until his back hit the wall.

Peter didn't know what to respond to him as he was tired of excuses and lies. At least Walter remembered and hadn't retreated completely into his own world.

Peter stepped forward sighing and gestured Walter to come with him.

"Come on Walter. Olivia and I need to discuss something with you and Astrid," he said while grabbing a hold of Walter's shoulder to guide him out of the room.

Walter came hesitantly, and stopped in the middle of the room. He looked over his shoulder, not quite meeting Peter's eyes when he spoke.

"Thank you for coming back," he whispered and turned to walk out of the room. Peter was left standing, looking after him not knowing whether to shake or hug him.

They walked back to the kitchen in silence. Walter headed to the fridge to take out a milkshake before sitting down next to Astrid. Peter accepted the mug of coffee from Astrid before sitting down next to Olivia.

Olivia started explaining what had transpired and what they were waiting for. Peter didn't interrupt her.

"So you might be gone at any minute, but how are you going to come back?" Astrid asked worried.

"Is it safe for you to travel by car if the same thing happens that happened to Olivia," she continued.

Olivia looked at Peter as she hadn't thought about that, although it was clearly an issue.

"Maybe we better stay here until Nina calls," Olivia suggested.

Peter had to agree, "We don't know how long it will take or when we will return so I suppose it makes sense to stay here instead of being yanked to the Other Side in the middle of driving."

Walter had stayed quiet and subdued during the discussion, but now he was nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes. It is safer for you to stay, that way we know the location where you are going to come back," he explained.

Peter started to reply, but Olivia's mobile went off at that moment. She looked at the caller ID and nodded at Peter, "Nina Sharp."

Peter felt immediately anxious and on full alert. He heard Olivia repeating an address and then she put the phone down.

"She gave me an address where the window will open in 15 minutes. Let's go," Olivia said to Peter and to stunned Walter and Astrid, who followed them to the door.

"How are you going to get through and how are you going to find the open gate?" Astrid asked confused.

Olivia was opening the door and paused for a second.

"Massive Dynamic is keeping an eye on the spontaneous opening of gates between our Realities and they can tell where they appear few minutes before. They appear randomly, are unstable and don't keep open for very long time," she explained what Nina Sharp had told her.

"I can see the gate allowing us to step through and apparently Peter's presence will stabilise the passage so that no problems should occur. Once we are on the other side, William Bell has arranged someone to pick us up," Olivia said looking at Peter at the same time.

"But we have to hurry. It will take us almost 15 minutes to get to that alley and we have to leave the car behind," Olivia hurried Peter along.

They ran into Olivia's car and strapped themselves in. When Peter looked at Walter and Astrid at the porch, they both looked anxious and worried. When Peter looked back at Olivia, she had a strained smile on her face.

"Hold on," she said and stepped on the pedal, breaking all the speed limits in their hurry to get to the alley. Luckily for them it was still early morning, so the traffic was sparse.

They arrived at the place that Nina Sharp had specified, leaving their car parked just outside on the main street. They ran in to the alley as time was almost up.

"Can you see it?" Peter asked breathlessly while he was frantically looking around, trying to identify anything out of the ordinary.

"There!" Olivia spotted the haziness and glimmering of trees through the gate. The image seemed to waver and dance indicating that it wasn't very stable.

Peter took Olivia's hand squeezing it and said, "Let's do this."

They stepped through.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you again my faithful and some new reviewers; Lixie87, ElleThom, Skate-815, Starlight77, hoellenwauwau, Bryn Elizabeth (thanks for the offer!) and cyn23. I hope you like this new chapter:)**

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**Chapter 7.**

Olivia was attacked by a bad case of vertigo and she held on to Peter's hand, which also seemed to waver as Peter was slightly off balance, but not as much as Olivia. The feeling of vertigo passed soon and they looked around.

They had stepped through to the exact same alley, except this one had trees painted on the walls. Rather real looking too.

Somebody cleared their throat behind them making them let go of each other's hand and whip around fully alert. A man dressed in a black suit gestured past himself and said, "Please, this way".

Peter looked at Olivia before they both took a step towards the figure. He seemed unarmed and patient, clearly having been instructed to wait on them on this spot. They were wary nonetheless as the man hadn't indicated who he was or who he was working for.

When they emerged from the alley, walking after the man in a suit, they were led to a car with tinted windows. The man opened the back door and nodded at them, silently asking them to step inside.

Peter stopped reaching a hand out to halt Olivia.

"Where are you taking us?" he asked suspiciously.

The man slightly bowed his head and replied, "To your meeting with Doctor Bell. But we need to hurry if we want to avoid any undue attention".

"Do we have enough time, before getting back?" Olivia asked remembering how her time had been limited last time and it looked like they were going to spend some time here.

The man nodded and uttered the longest sentence they were going to hear," When you come through the gateway, your time-frame is not set unlike if somebody pulls you through as happened to you before, Agent Dunham."

Peter and Olivia got in to the car, which smoothly took off. They had a long drive ahead of them to New York, but the scenery made it seem shorter. In the city nothing seemed to be too different, everything was more grey and there didn't seem to be any parks, but once they got to the highway, they could see that the vegetation was either dying or had disappeared altogether. There were no birds and now that Peter thought about it, there hadn't been any pigeons in the city either.

"What happened to the trees?" Peter asked the man in a suit, who was now sitting at the front.

"The blight," came a short answer. To Peter it didn't mean much and he turned to Olivia to see if she knew what he meant.

"Something is killing the trees," Olivia said shrugging her shoulders as she didn't know much more than Peter did.

As it became clear that the man wasn't here to answer questions, but only to take them to William Bell, Peter and Olivia sat back and observed the world go by. It was unsettling how different and still the same it seemed to be.

XXX

When they pulled over at the World Trade Centre, even Peter was affected by the sight. Olivia had seen it before but this time seeing it with all the people milling around made it more real.

"Please," the man said holding the car door open making Peter to step out and move aside to make space for Olivia. The man then gestured them to follow him as he crossed the plaza and went into the lobby. They dutifully followed looking around trying to recognise anything out of place, but they could have been in their own Reality, if it only had the Towers still standing.

They took the lift and when they stepped out, it was clear from the sparse furniture and decoration that they were at Massive Dynamic headquarters. A black clad woman took over and the man in the suit disappeared back into the lift. They were walking behind the woman along a long corridor until they finally came to double doors, which she opened.

"Please, go in," she said and once they had stepped into the room, she quietly closed the doors after them.

Peter looked around the room while Olivia concentrated on the corner where she remembered Bell lurking last time she was here. She wasn't disappointed.

William Bell stepped out of the shadows making Peter to turn to face him, making the atmosphere heavy with anticipation.

"Welcome," Bell said in his raspy and breathless voice.

"I'm glad you could join me through a gateway, so we don't have similar time constrictions than last time," he continued while gesturing towards the chairs in front of his desk. Both Olivia and Peter remained standing.

Bell sighed and sat down behind his desk.

"You are still mad, I see," he said wearily and lifted a mask to his face to inhale something.

Peter glanced at Olivia, who seemed to be staring at Bell as in trying to bore a hole in his head to get the answers tumbling out that way. He fleetingly touched Olivia's hand as he moved forwards and she seemed to relax slightly behind him.

"What's that?" Peter asked gesturing towards the mask and the tank beside the desk.

"A mixture of chemicals to keep this Universe rejecting me," Bell answered without hesitation, which Peter took to be a good sign. He walked to one of chairs and sat down. He could feel Olivia following him and smiled slightly at her as she took the seat to his left.

"I presume you know something about the special circumstances of your origins, Peter?" Bell asked getting straight to the point, which Olivia found relieving. She had dreaded going through another Mad Hatter's tea party.

"She can see objects from this side, which became useful in uncovering Walter's secret," Peter nodded towards Olivia.

"Walter told us few bits and pieces, but claimed that only you know the full picture," Peter continued fixing Bell with a steely stare.

To his surprise and annoyance, Bell turned towards Olivia commenting, "You have been intimate then?"

Peter was outraged. What kind of a question was that and what did it have to do with anything.

"Excuse me?! That's none of your business," Olivia replied before he could, clearly offended by Bell's question.

"Actually it is relevant, but I better start the story from beginning," Bell said lifting his hands up trying to calm them down.

"But before we start, I better explain why I'm willing to discuss everything now, not like last time when I left you only with clues," he said and sat back in his chair.

Olivia lifted her eyebrow clearly disbelieving him, while Peter sat quietly trying to be patient with the man.

"I have been combining the data from Massive Dynamic from both Universes and only recently we got the full interpretation of the data together with predictions for the future," Bell started.

"What we found is deeply unsettling and goes beyond our two Universes, thus I'm very glad of your timing."

Peter looked sceptical about where this was going, but at the same time was satisfied that Bell seemed to be willing to explain everything. He was so tired of lies, deceits and shadows within shadows that he didn't know himself any more which smoke screen was going to go up next and whether he was supposed to stand on this or the other side.

He looked at Olivia, who seemed to be the calm and collected FBI Agent, a role that she had perfected over time, but Peter could tell that she was nervous and worried. He was surprised that he could so easily read her, usually Olivia had to willingly let things slip through her mask. He banished the thought as he had more important things to concentrate on.

"Let's get on with this," Peter said finally getting impatient.

"Walter filled us in about your attempts to create a vacuum fluctuation battery, which failed causing a huge earthquake on the side. And how you were involved in the idea to kidnap me", Peter explained.

"He didn't tell us why the Cortexiphan trials continued or why the Universes seem to be close to colliding in a war," he continued rather forcefully.

Bell looked thoughtful and replied,"I suppose that's as good as any place to start."

"We knew that our experiments had drawn the attention of the Observers, although we didn't know first who they were and why there were there. After the experiment failed, we thought that nothing had happened and that the Alternate Universes were separated as usual. We assumed that the Other Side hadn't notice what we were up to," Bell started his story.

"When one of the Observers accidentally infected Peter with a virus from another dimension altogether causing eventually his death, he promised that he would try to correct his mistake as long as it didn't mean resurrecting the dead."

Both Peter and Olivia sat up straighter at that.

"Are they able to do that?" Peter asked incredulously.

"He seemed to have indicated that it would theoretically be possible," Bell agreed.

"Walter in his grief and guilt was running around in circles until I suggested about taking Peter from an Alternate Universe. He agreed immediately and started planning, but his wife was against the idea as she didn't want to be the cause of similar grief and despair that they were going through at the time. But Walter didn't listen to her," Bell said looking out of the window, clearly remembering the moment.

"Well, we succeeded with the help of the Observer, as you know. Your acclimation took time and effort and as a side-effect you lost all your memories of your previous life. And despite her objections, once you arrived, your mother dearly loved you," Bell said now looking at Peter.

"What we didn't know was that you came from the same Universe that we had tried to use to create our vacuum fluctuation battery. Unknowingly we had managed to push the Universes to an approaching course, thus this world being the most accessible."

"Later on as I came over to study the Universes, I found out that the original experiment didn't really cause any harm and although the Universes were pushed to come closer to each other than was usual, they would have separated again in time without any problems," Bell now explained getting Olivia's and Peter's attention.

"The scientists on this side were aware of what had been going on, but as no harm was done, they proceeded only to observe. When they found out, that we had taken Peter, they became suspicious as you weren't just an ordinary boy and fairly soon their observations were starting to indicate that their Universe was becoming unstable," Bell continued.

Peter started looking more grey as he was guessing where Bell was going with the story and Olivia had given up being the hard ass Agent so she reached over and took Peter's hand. He looked up and gave her a small smile to convey that the gesture was more than appreciated.

Bell looked at their interactions with interest, but once they turned their attention back to him, he continued with his story.

"They weren't sure what had caused it, but as it had coincided with your departure, they looked into it and found out that your removal had indeed been the cause. At that point they started building an army of their own as they knew how things were standing, only one of the Universes would survive a cross-reality war after an inevitable collision," Bell said.

"The shape shifters," Peter commented.

"Yes, they were one part. They also conducted trials with a chemical similar to cortexiphan, but they all failed," Bell answered.

"We had an idea what they were doing and were convinced that the war would break out sooner or later, therefore we continued with the cortexiphan trials on our side with some success," Bell said nodding at Olivia who didn't look convinced.

"Well you didn't do a very good job at activating my abilities," Olivia snorted.

"Actually, we have the scientists on this side to thank," Bell said confusing both Peter and Olivia.

"On this side they experimented on their Olivia, but instead of pairing him with Nick as we did with Walter, she was paired with Peter," Bell said causing a stunned silence.

"You mean that I was also experimented on?" Peter asked, now feeling numb as he wasn't going to get surprised by anything any more.

"You weren't given cortexiphan, no. You were genetically engineered to be an empath, linked to Olivia of this world. You also had your pheromones altered so you could subtly manipulate people around you," Bell answered.

Peter didn't know what to think and when he looked at Olivia, he found her staring at him looking scared.

"You were the calming controller of Olivia and when you disappeared, she went out of control, burning down a training centre, herself still inside," Bell said sadly.

Olivia felt repulsed that her other self had been pushed into a corner, and also immensely sad that she hadn't seen any other way out.

"This world's Olivia was conditioned to be activated by an emotional physical contact with Peter, but she was only just starting to go through the phase of forgetting. I suspect that you, Olivia, are similar enough for Peter's abilities to also have an effect on you," Bell concluded.

"That's why I asked whether you had been intimate," Bell softly finished.

Olivia could only look at Peter in horror. Didn't she have any say in the matter after all? Had they been engineered to fall for each other, without any free will?

Peter for his part was as horrified. When he thought that Bell couldn't surprise him any more, he dug out something even more hideous. Peter was holding onto Olivia's hand being grateful that she let him. He looked at her and ignored Bell for now.

"Olivia, believe me, I know what I feel and it's not a lie," Peter said softly but with conviction.

Olivia nodded clearly trying to believe him, but he could see the fear in her eyes.

"I don't care if we were engineered or not, I belong with you," Peter continued squeezing her hand.

"I know Peter. This is just so much to take in," Olivia answered in a daze, but continued to hold Peter's hand.

Peter turned back towards Bell and disbelievingly said, "So I'm the reason this war started? It's Walter's fault? It's my fault?!"

Bell looked worried before answering, which in turn worried Peter.

"Yes, but not the way you think."

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I have tried avoiding reading other post-Jacksonville fics to prevent myself losing the plot with this one, but haven't been able to avoid all of them and now find myself wondering, what the heck am I doing! The quality of writing in those other fics is so good that I want to slink back into that dark corner to avoid embarrassment. Good for them, bad for me:( **

**Anyway, those of you who are still persistently clinging on as I make a fool of myself, thank you for you patience and kind words. They are very much appreciated. Thank you killmotion, babypumpkin, ElleThom, Bryn Elizabeth and Smita for reviewing the previous chapter.**

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**Chapter 8.**

Peter stared at the old man, who looked increasingly troubled.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked him despite his innate wish not to hear any more.

"That last batch of data we received and analysed, confirm our most recent theory why the worlds stayed at collision course" Bell said, halting to inhale his concoction of chemicals.

Olivia had let go of Peter's hand as she felt she couldn't think when she touched him. She only wanted to comfort him and to be near him and that was not helpful at the moment.

Peter had looked lost when she withdrew her hand, but seemed to understand as he turned back towards Bell.

"What did you find?" Peter queried.

"Let me ask you first. Are you familiar with the concept of quantum entanglement?" William Bell asked breathing heavily.

Olivia looked confused and shook her head, while Peter nodded waving his hands vaguely around. Before he could answer Bell decided to elaborate.

"According to the theory, two particles can be linked over space and time. If you observe one particle, it means that you are also observing the other, they are practically twins. When you influence one, you cause the same effect on the other, as long as the particles, or systems if you will, stay isolated," Bell explained.

"This enables certain type of communication between the two particles, although not in the classical sense of transferring data or conversing with someone," Bell continued only to be interrupted by Peter.

"All this is fascinating, but what does it have to do with me or the war?" Peter asked impatiently.

William Bell didn't seem to be offended by the interruption, but replied, "What we found in relation to this theory made me change my mind about waging a war so that one of our Universes would survive."

Peter and Olivia looked at each other as this didn't sound good. William Bell was similar to Walter, an ambitious, selfish man and if something made him to reconsider his actions, it must be something immense.

"I mentioned earlier that you, Peter, were a special case," Bell started again, nodding at Peter, who looked sceptical.

"But the genetic engineering wasn't what made you special, although that's what both sides initially thought."

"With our analysis, we confirmed that quantum physics doesn't only apply on the microscopic scale as has been previously thought, but also in macroscopic scale," Bell seemed to change the direction of the conversation once again.

"We found out, that every Alternate Universe or multiverse as they are also called, is entangled to another Universe via variable method unique to each and that this entanglement holds the information of the distance between the different Universes. You could call them signalling beacons, making sure that the Universes don't come too close leading to an inevitable collision," Bell carried on.

"What are you saying?" Peter asked slowly as his brain was catching up what Bell was trying to explain, but his consciousness wouldn't accept the answer.

"What we did with Walter, was to remove the signalling beacon from this world causing it to lose its position in the multiverse and its ultimate collision with another world. Ours to be specific as we were already close," Bell finished.

Peter looked at him aghast.

"So you are saying that somehow I'm the entangled particle, system, what ever," Peter said waving his hands about as was his habit when he was thinking.

"Yes, we only recently confirmed that your removal kept our Universes on a collision course. We also found out our world's corresponding entangled entity as it turned out that our Universes were indeed entangled. You, Olivia," Bell pointed at her.

Olivia looked lost but angry, "Are you saying that I'm suppose to be some kind of a super soldier, the gate keeper and now a signalling beacon?"

"I'm afraid that's how it looks like," Bell said softly and for once looking apologising as he stared at Olivia.

"But wait a second. It still doesn't explain your change of mind," Peter asked.

"We found out that as our two Universes are entangled so is every single Universe, to keep the Realities from colliding. What we did was to start a domino effect. In essence, we instigated the end of space and time, " Bell said quietly, clearly disturbed.

Peter sat back in his chair. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, although it did make weird sense.

"How can we stop this war? Or better yet, how do we stop the chain reaction of collisions or is it even possible?" Peter asked wearily.

"What we can gather from the data, and now we enter the unknown as our predictions are just that, predictions, we still have some time to reverse the process," Bell said looking very intensely at Peter.

All Olivia's instincts went to full alert and she sat up straight. Peter didn't seem to react at all, if anything he looked resigned and deflated.

"What are you suggesting?" Olivia asked while looking from one man to another.

Peter turned towards her and she could see that all the fight had gone out of him. He looked tired, weary and grieving. Before Olivia could react to what she saw, Peter answered to her.

"It means that I have to stay here."

XXX

Olivia looked at him shocked and all of the sudden panic took over.

"No, no, no, you can't stay here. You belong to us. I can't let you go," Olivia said her hands shaking.

"Olivia," Peter said softly.

"If it is the only way to stop this catastrophe happening, I don't have a choice," he said reaching for her hand.

"I can't live with the knowledge that so much could be destroyed if I had the means to stop it and didn't act."

"I don't want to leave you. I don't want to stay here, but what other choice do I have?" Peter asked pleadingly and Olivia could see how much this was tearing him apart.

"Then I will stay here," Olivia announced looking defiantly at William Bell, but it was Peter who answered.

"You can't, sweetheart, as you are the beacon for the other side," he gently reminded her.

Peter felt like screaming and going for an aggressive killing spree, destroying everything around him. This wasn't fair! He didn't choose to cross over! He didn't choose to be the living proof of quantum entanglement! This mess didn't have anything to do with him, and now it was dumped into his lap to solve. He was suppose to save the fabric of time and space for God's sake!

Olivia was sitting at the armrest of Peter's chair as she followed his internal battle. She was chewing her lip and could barely contain her tears.

She intellectually understood that her feelings were completely irrelevant at the scale they were discussing, but her heart wouldn't believe it and her dear heart, which had finally opened up, was ripped apart along Peter.

William Bell stood up from his chair and walked away to the large windows, to give the two some privacy. And he could always observe them from the reflections, anyway.

Olivia lost the battle and the tears fell freely, but silently. She slipped her shaking fingers through Peter's hair and pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly to her chest. Peter encircled his arms around her waist and held on as tightly as she laid her cheek against his messy hair.

She couldn't believe the cruelty of life. For them to find each other against all odds, after their counterparts had died, without even knowing that they were looking for someone, only to be separated so soon.

Star crossed lovers indeed, and one Peter Bishop torn to shreds to keep the rest of the multiverse intact.

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you for the wonderful encouragement and kind words when I desperately needed them: killmotion, Donna, Cyn23, Skate-815, Inkblood, babypumpkin, Bryn Elizabeth, maricejayo, ElleThom, Amanda, Lixie87, smita and AquiD. Because of you the quantum state collapsed into a less angsty ending (eventually) :) Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 9.**

Peter held onto Olivia, burrowing himself as close as possible. He knew what had to be done, but it didn't make it any easier. There must be a way to severe the entanglement, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. And he didn't have the time either.

He could feel Olivia responding to his craving of closeness and intimacy and it made his heart swell. This must be so difficult for her, but here she was comforting him. It made his heart hurt even more.

Peter could tell that Bell had moved from the window as his ragged breathing was easily tracked. What he didn't expect was a door to open and someone to step in only to wait beside the doorway.

"My assistant will drive Olivia back to Boston so she can cross over there. There is a gate opening later this evening," Bell said calmly.

Peter's head whipped up and he angrily stared at Bell with his bloodshot eyes.

"You are NOT going to toss her away like she's nothing," he growled menacingly.

"You yourself said that I'm needed for the stabilisation of the gate. I will see Olivia through safely, say my goodbyes and come back," he almost shouted.

"There is no time," Bell said slightly taken aback by Peter's outburst.

"Are you saying that your confidence in your data and in your scientists is so poor? What else are you lying about?" Peter hissed.

Bell lifted his hands in an effort to ward off Peter's wrath.

"I trust them, it's just that the predictions are not that accurate," he tried to explain.

Peter looked at him angrily, still holding onto Olivia, who was having difficulties with the concept of really leaving Peter behind and wasn't really taking notice of the discussion.

"But I'm sure that there is enough time for you to make a journey to Boston," Bell finally conceded, giving up.

Peter stood up holding onto Olivia's hand. He didn't want to lose the physical contact with her for one moment as this was all he was going to get. And he wanted to remember her in full detail.

"When I come back, we will have a talk," he said the menace dripping from his voice. Bell's façade broke enough to give him a glimpse of a terrified old man. Peter was satisfied. He was going to make Bell's life a living hell for everything he had done to him and Olivia.

Peter and Olivia turned towards the man waiting at the door. They were once again taken through the lobby of the Tower, out to the streets and into the same car with tinted windows. Even the man sitting next to the driver was the same one who had come to pick them up.

The drive was silent. The men at the front didn't speak, neither had they any music on. Olivia rested her head on Peter's shoulder, their hands entwined in her lap. Both of them were immersed in each other, trying to ensure that they would forget as little as possible. Words were irrelevant, what was there to say anyway?

They arrived in Boston and were driven close to where they had been picked up. There was another indistinct alley, dark and brooding, but Olivia could see the golden glimmer dancing by the back wall.

When Olivia and Peter got out of the car, the man in the suit stopped them. He looked genuinely apologetic.

"This gate should stay open for 10 minutes. Please come back before it has passed," he said to Peter.

He turned towards Olivia and made a gesture between a nod and a bow, "I'm so sorry, Agent Dunham. Please, be well."

Olivia looked surprised at the man's words and kindness. Before she could respond, he smiled sadly and returned to the car, leaving the couple on the pavement.

Olivia once again directed them and Peter held her steady when they stepped through.

XXX

Peter didn't feel any hints of vertigo this time, but Olivia seemed to be even more affected than last time. She swayed on her feet making Peter to envelope her in a hug to help her to stay upright. At the same time he noticed that there were people looking at them, standing a safe distance away.

Over Olivia's head he could suddenly make out the people; Nina Sharp standing next to Walter, who was supported by Astrid on the other side. Philip Broyles was hovering behind the trio. When he saw that Peter and Olivia had come through safe, Walter sprang from Astrid's grip and ran to Peter. He didn't care that he already had Olivia in his arms but threw his arms around both of them.

"You came back," he whispered relieved.

Peter didn't respond, but looked at Nina questioningly.

"William Bell informed me what you plan was. I thought it easier to bring them here," Nina answered the unasked question.

"I'm so sorry," she added softly, looking sad.

Astrid glanced at her wonderingly, but came forward to try to peel Walter off to give Olivia and Peter a chance to breathe.

"I appreciate it. Thank you," Peter said seriously to Nina, who nodded in return.

"What is going on?" Astrid asked clearly baffled by the exchange between Peter and Nina. She also could tell from their serious looks that something wasn't right. Peter looked downright haggard and Olivia had clearly been crying. She could see her face now, the vertigo having passed and Olivia standing up on her own feet again.

"We don't have much time," Peter said keeping one arm around Olivia's waist and the other arm around Walter's shoulders.

He still felt ambivalent about Walter. He hadn't forgiven him, but now that he was faced with the prospect of never seeing again this man, who was like an overgrown, curious child, who had grounded him by giving him a sense of family when he thought that it would have been forever lost, who showed that he loved him in his crazy way, who still was the only father he could remember, he couldn't stay mad at him.

Peter looked at Olivia, who seemed to know what he needed to do and let go of him. He kept Olivia close to him and looked at Astrid and Walter taking in Nina Sharp and Broyles, who were standing at the outskirts of this circle of family.

"I don't have much time so Olivia will have to explain everything later. I wanted to say goodbye to you," Peter said at the verge of tears. Astrid looked scared, her eyes wide and dark. Walter looked terrified, his face twisted into a mask of agony and grief and he was already repeating, "no, no, no," over and over again, while clinging onto Peter's jacket.

Peter stepped closer to Astrid and hugged her fiercely, Walter still attached to his sleeve.

"Remember, you are not just a lab rat or my father's keeper. You are a brilliant FBI agent and a wonderful person. Thank you for looking after me and Walter," Peter said to her.

Astrid hugged him back, tears streaming down her face. She was overwhelmed with shock and the sudden news of Peter's departure as this was clearly imminent, rendering her unable to say anything. She hugged him even tighter.

Peter then turned towards Walter who was beside himself. He was alternately begging and ordering Peter to stay and he was already crying.

Peter drew him to an embrace and just held him. Walter stilled as if finally realising that there was nothing he could do, that everything had been decided already.

"Walter, you were the only dad I knew. That has to count for something, right?" Peter said, tears in his eyes.

Walter could only nod several times and when Peter stepped away, he let him go.

Peter shook hands with Broyles, who said, "It was a pleasure," before moving to Nina Sharp who took the initiative to hug him. He hugged her back.

Finally Peter came to face Olivia, who didn't even try to hide her tears, but was looking at him proudly head held up, not trying to hide any more. He once again cupped her face with his palms, gently stroking her face before finally crumbling into tears and whispering brokenly, "Olivia," as he pulled her as close to him as physically possible.

He held her for sometime, nuzzling his face against her neck, just inhaling her scent. He eventually had to loosen his hold of her, moving his hands to her face while she mover her hands to rest on his chest. He looked down, drinking in every detail before his time was up. And it certainly was. He was suppose to go back any minute now.

Olivia looked back at him, her eyes clear and open for him to read. He smiled slightly bending down, capturing her lips in a tender kiss.

"We should have stayed in your bed," Peter quipped to her as they rested their foreheads together. Olivia gave a sound, which was a cross breed of a sob and a laugh. He became serious again.

"I don't know how yet, but I will come back," he said with an intense and confident voice and the way he looked at Olivia made her believe him.

He gave her a final kiss and let her go. He looked at Astrid and Walter, who were hugging and comforting each other, at Nina, who was a dark shape in the background with Broyles behind her. Peter lifted his hand to give a little wave and said, "Goodbye."

He stepped through the wavering prism of golden light and the gate winked out of existence.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: If the weather forecast is to be believed, I will be cooped up indoors all weekend updating this story. Heavy snowfall combined with storm winds and -17º C making it feel -31º C... I'll stay inside, thank you very much!**

**Thank you for reviewing: killmotion, cyn23, AguiD, Skate-815, Lixie87, wjobsessed, hoellenwauwau, GoodDifferent, Andi J, Observer101, ellethom and Bryn Elizabeth. I hope this chapter will keep you entertained:)**

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**Chapter 10.**

Here

They stood in silence, until the noises of the city invaded their consciousness.

Olivia looked down at her feet, shoulders hunched over, trying to make herself as small as possible. All the previous bravery was gone, leaving a hurting and grieving woman behind.

She was vaguely aware of Astrid and Walter behind her and of the silent presence of Nina and Broyles slightly further away. However, she felt more alone as ever before. An abyss had taken hold of her and she was falling fast.

Then she felt an arm around her shoulders, tentative and gentle. Olivia didn't need to look up to see who it was. Sweet Astrid was offering support and in her crippled state, Olivia wasn't able to decline.

Olivia leaned against Astrid, unaware that hot tears were cascading down her cheeks. Unaware of anything that was going around her, only being aware of the pain and the searing coldness of loss that she was feeling.

Astrid could tell that Olivia was going into a shock and that finally spurred her on. Nina took over to look after Walter, who seemed to have descended into a catatonic state. Broyles was seen hovering just at the entrance to the alley, probably getting the car as they needed to get somewhere private.

Astrid encircled Olivia's shoulders and was relieved when the woman didn't pull her gun and shoot her, but only blinked once and leaned against her. It also made her worry as Olivia wasn't one to show her emotions, but then Peter's departure had affected them all and it had probably been the hardest on Olivia.

She could hear Broyles driving the car as close to the alley as possible and started leading Olivia that way. She saw Nina doing the same to Walter. Broyles helped them to strap both Olivia and Walter into their seats as they both seemed to be unresponsive, and they took off.

"Where should we go?" Broyles asked looking at Nina who for once wasn't being driven around by Massive Dynamic employees.

It was Astrid who answered.

"Wouldn't the Bishop's house be OK?" she asked in a teary voice.

When she saw Broyles looking at her from the rear mirror with a sceptical look, she defended herself, "It's familiar to Walter, so it should help him to recover, even though it will remind him of Peter. And I don't think Olivia will mind as long as it's somewhere private and warm. She's freezing."

Broyles glanced at Nina, who gave a small nod.

"Bishop's it is."

XXX

By the time they arrived at the Bishop's house, it was already late and the streets were dark. When they came out of the car, they could see no one around. Astrid took the lead, leading Walter by hand, as she had the key.

Astrid opened the door, switched on the lights and led Walter in to sit on the sofa. He didn't seemed to notice that he was home, but when Astrid pulled the blanket from the sofa to cover Walter with it, he reacted by looking up at Astrid, who gave him a watery smile.

Olivia had come in after the pair as she had regained most of her composure on the way over and she was trying to slip back to her tough Agent persona as quickly as possible. She didn't know how else she was going to survive.

Nina and Broyles followed them, Nina looking around her with keen interest while Broyles closed the door. They all took places on the sofa and arm chairs, instinctively gathering together in search of support and answers.

Astrid slipped to the kitchen to make some coffee. It was too bad that there wasn't anything stronger in the house. Unless you counted Walter's stuff for self medicating, but that would have been quite inappropriate for the moment.

When Astrid came back with the steaming mugs, everybody was still sitting in contemplative silence. She gave out the drinks, digging Walter's hands from under the blanket and placed a coffee mug on them. The aroma of strong coffee seemed to stir something in him as he looked slightly more alert. Astrid herself took a seat next to Walter and nursed her mug in silence.

Olivia was staring at her mug, swirling the coffee around, watching the waves that emerged, hypnotising as the swirls went around and around... She snapped herself out of it and took a deep breath.

She had managed to salvage some of her defences and self control but her hold was still tentative at best. She just wanted to get the explanations out of the way and go home to curl up in her bed, hoping that Peter's scent would still linger on. It was all she got. The thought made her choke up again and to feel the prickling of tears, but she brutally forced them down.

"When I came over here after the last case, to go out for drinks with Peter..." Olivia started, immediately capturing the attention of the other people in the room. Even Walter seemed to be listening in, although he didn't look at her directly.

Olivia told her story of what had happened here and after they had crossed over to the Other Side. Her account was halting in parts, sometimes she slipped into a prolonged silence and she received unexpected help from Walter in terms of him adding words and phrases to make Bell's explanation understandable without actually interrupting Olivia's tale.

When she was finished, silence descended into the room once again. Everybody was digesting what they had just heard and they were still too raw with emotions and with the shock of Peter suddenly leaving to think of any questions.

Olivia was slowly losing the battle with her tiredness and with it, the rest of her seem to also give up. Astrid saw this and wanting desperately to help and coming up with no other ideas, she suggested gently, "Why don't you go to Peter's room to sleep?"

Olivia's tired mind was trying to bring up excuses to go home, but the opportunity to sleep in Peter's bed, surrounded by his things and his scent finally made her resolve to crumble.

She stood up without a word and ascended the stairs, to disappear in Peter's room.

Astrid started tugging at Walter to get him to bed, but he didn't budge and in the end she gave up. She managed to remove his shoes and found a pillow for him to sleep on the sofa. She was suddenly overwhelmed by sadness and pity and couldn't help smoothing Walter's hair from his face, like she would to a small child.

Nina and Broyles had stood up and were looking at Astrid.

"Will you be OK with both of them?" Broyles asked looking worried.

"I will be fine. I will sleep in the guest room and make sure that Walter doesn't wander off," Astrid said tiredly.

"Thank you," Nina said, sounding genuine.

"We will come by tomorrow. Maybe then we can talk about what happened and the initial emotional shock has worn off. We also have to think what our plan will be from now on," she continued looking troubled.

Broyles took her by the elbow as they walked out of the door. Astrid locked the door behind them, only fleetingly wondering why the two of them had arrived in a same car and were now leaving together with the same car.

XXX

Olivia had stumbled into Peter's room as she was so tired that the directions from her brain to her feet seemed to take forever, making even the simple task of walking tiresome. She shuffled further into the room.

She reached Peter's bed that was still unmade. Removing her jacket and her shoes she sat down on the edge of the bed and just sat there in silence. Her brain had gone silent and numb, giving her a moment of relief. But it wasn't to last for long.

She settled down on the bed pulling the covers over her and inhaled Peter's heavy scent that had infused the linen. She couldn't help the tears that finally overwhelmed her. Hugging one of Peter's pillows close to her chest she sobbed herself to sleep.

XXX

There

Peter stepped back to the gloomy alley to find the car waiting, the man in the suite standing next to it. He looked relieved when he saw Peter. He held the car door open, as Peter stalked towards him. Peter stepped into the car without a word, grinding his teeth. They silently took off.

Peter pushed with a surprising ease all the feelings of loss, grief and love to a small corner of his brain, locked the door and threw away the key. He returned to his old self from the time before meeting Olivia, which translated into an angry, shifty and aggressive Peter Bishop. A man who had not just survived in the underworld of criminals, but had been like a fish in water.

It should have scared him how easy the transition to his former self was, but he wasn't capable of feeling fear any more. He had one goal in his life and he would stubbornly, without wavering achieve that goal or die trying. Giving up wasn't an option.

He let himself hold on to the memory of Olivia as that gave him strength and conviction to carry on, but he wouldn't allow himself to go into it any deeper as that would have hindered his new/old persona's working. He would reserve all the feelings and sensations to those late night hours, when he couldn't sleep.

He would use every trick and threat he could think of to find a way back to Olivia. He would put those pheromones to work, they were engineered to influence people in the first place, right?

Before he was finished with this world, William Bell would regret what he had done. Peter would make sure that he suffered.

While Peter was immersed in his dark, murderous thoughts, the car was speeding back to New York in silence. The man in the suit glanced at him from time to time, deeply troubled, but didn't disturb the silence.

XXX

When they got back to the World Trade Centre Towers, Peter purposefully walked into the lobby and took the lift up to Massive Dynamic. When the receptionist saw him, she let him walk past without resisting, only calling William Bell in advance to warn him.

Peter burst through the doors to find Bell sitting behind his desk. At least he had the decency of not looking smug, but Peter couldn't have cared less. Before Bell could say anything, Peter beat him to it.

"Is Walter alive here? I need to speak to him," Peter demanded leaning his knuckles against Bell's desk towering over him.

Bell was clearly surprised that he would want to talk to Walter, but recovered quickly.

"Yes, he's here. Working in a lab just below us," he responded starting to get up.

Peter held up his hand to stop him.

"Just tell me how to find him. At the moment, I don't want to spend a second more in your presence than I have to," Peter growled.

Bell gave him the directions and Peter left the room, leaving Bell to look after him worryingly. However he had to put all the thoughts about Peter aside for now as they had more imminent problems in carefully observing the parameters now that Peter was safely home and hope that he had returned in time to prevent the collision of realities.

Peter walked along the empty corridors, seeing no one. He found Walter's lab easily and opened the door stepping inside into a well lit room.

A familiar figure was hunched over a bench, studying something intensely.

"Walter," Peter said calmly causing the figure to stand up straight and turn to look at him.

"It was time for you to return," Walter said without any other greeting.

"I need your help in getting back," Peter said tersely.

"What nonsense are you sprouting? There is no going back, son. You are here to help in my experiments," Walter dismissed him looking annoyed.

"First, I will not help you and second. I am not your son," Peter answered with a cold voice trying to keep most of his fury under control.

"Of course you are my son! You carry my genes. You are mine. What have those fools been telling you on the Other Side?" Walter said disdainfullly, a sneer etched onto his face.

Peter lost it.

He moved fast and before Walter realised what was going on, Peter slammed him against a wall, pinning him up so that his toes barely touched the floor. His breath was coming in gasps and Peter could see a hint of fear in his arrogant eyes.

"I am not your son," he growled with a low voice.

Peter suddenly loosened his hold causing Walter to slide onto the floor. He turned around and walked out of the lab.

Peter was furious. This Walter had never learnt any humility. Maybe it hadn't been a bad idea to have parts of his brain removed and to lock him up in an asylum for a number of years, he darkly mused to himself. Maybe he could do the same to this Walter...

The game was not lost yet. He was sure that he could get Bell to give him a lab to work on his own.

As he was stalking along the corridor, a door opened to his left and a man hurried out with a steaming mug in his hand. He was startled by Peter and spilled his drink while trying to manoeuvre his feet around him,swearing out loud.

Peter stopped and looked at the man's attempts to shake the hot liquid off of his hands. It didn't seem to be coffee, but more tea like. The man looked familiar.

"Brandon?" Peter asked eventually.

The man looked up in surprise like he was just now remembering that he had indeed bumped into someone.

"Yes?" he replied looking at Peter and his eyes widened in an instance when he saw who it was.

"You must be Peter Bishop. From the Other Side. Walter's son," he excitedly babbled.

"Whoa there," Peter said lifting his hands to try to stop the flood of words from the man.

"Yes, I'm Peter Bishop and I did indeed come from the Other Side. About 5 hours ago to be exact," Peter said and couldn't resist smirking. This world's Brandon seemed to be as clumsy geek as the Brandon on the other side.

"But I'm not Walter's son," he said seriously.

Brandon looked back at the door to Walter's lab and said nervously, "Hmm, you met Walter?"

"Yes and I want nothing to do with him," Peter confirmed.

"He's rather difficult to work with... So I understand where you are coming from. Luckily I don't come across him that often" Brandon seemed to think aloud.

"What are you working with?" Peter asked curiously.

"Quantum teleportation," Brandon answered.

Peter perked his ears. This sounded promising. He might have stumbled across something important here.

"The kind where the act of teleportation destroys the original?" Peter asked probingly.

"Yes, it is the problem at the moment," Brandon agreed and was on the verge of launching into an explanation as a seemingly willing audience had presented itself.

Before he could get his mouth open, Peter had wrapped his arm around his shoulders, turning him around to head back to the door where he had come out.

"Show me."

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well, I went outside and didn't turned into an icicle. So here we go, coming close to the end. Thank you again: killmotion, GoodDifferent, sam_carter_1013+, ElleThom, Trapped in a MatchBox, Lixie87 and Smita. **

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**Chapter 11.**

Here

Olivia woke up to her alarm. She pressed her face into the pillows, a pang of regret slicing her heart when she could only smell laundry detergent.

Having no reason to stay in bed, she got up, opened the door and padded along the corridor to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, pulled her robe on and padded back to the bedroom.

The house was silent, but a smell of fresh coffee found its way to Olivia's nose and she smiled appreciatively to herself while dressing in her normal black suit. Once she was done, she pulled her long hair into a pony tail and stopped for a moment to look at her reflection in the mirror.

She was still pale and had dark circles around her eyes, which permanently looked dull, bottomless pits of darkness. Her whole face screamed of exhaustion and grief, but she had learned to turn it into coldness and menace at work. But for now, until she was out of the house, she would let her face be in peace.

She walked out of the room, down the corridor and descended the stairs, heading straight to the kitchen. Nobody was around, so she poured coffee for herself and set out to fix a bowl of cereal. She heard a soft movement behind her and glanced up.

"You are awake. I thought I might need to come and kick your butt," Olivia said smilingly at Astrid.

"Good morning," Astrid responded as she placed her mug in the sink, waiting for Olivia to finish her breakfast so they could go to work.

XXX

After they lost Peter, Olivia slept in Peter's bed every night. It was the only way she could find to cope with the situation. Unfortunately she had to wash the linen at some point and Peter's scent was becoming less and less noticeable.

But his presence still lingered. Olivia had kept everything the way it had been and had only added some of her clothes into the closet to keep her intrusion to a minimum. For her, it was still Peter's bedroom.

During the day FBI Agent Olivia Dunham worked hard with a single-mindedness, to keep herself busy with cases, but during the nights, she was still a broken woman who had lost a part of herself, who refused to heal until that part was returned.

She still worked at Fringe division with Astrid, Walter and Broyles, with occasional help from Brandon from Massive Dynamic, but nobody had insisted that Peter should be replaced and Olivia was grateful for that. They still looked into bizarre, weird and wonderful cases, but those involving the Other Side had reduced to almost nothing in the past 18 months.

Nina Sharp kept them updated in regards what was happening with the Alternate Universe and it had become evident that Peter's sacrifice had been worth it. The Worlds were receding and the number of spontaneous opening of gates had gone to near zero. Also the number of sightings of Observers had gone down.

Walter had finally recovered from losing Peter the second time, but that was purely because of Astrid's patience and perseverance. Also having Olivia in the house seemed to have grounded Walter making his recovery possible.

He was still more fragile that before, his previous temper tantrums had disappeared and he once again needed more guidance, but he responded well to Astrid, so their dysfunctional family was still hanging on.

Once Olivia had simply started living in the Bishop's house, Astrid had moved in fairly soon. She knew that Olivia wouldn't be able to look after Walter in her state of mind and Astrid found that she rather liked having flatmates again. And with Walter around you never had a dull day.

On any given day, one of them would lose all hope and become an emotional wreck, but the others always understood and would be there for that person. Sometimes all of them grieved together, but that usually led to a several days absence from work before they could become functional again, so if at all possible they tried to hold it all together for the sake of others. Broyles understood and let them have all the time they needed.

XXX

"Let's go," Olivia said putting the dirty dishes into the sink and followed Astrid to the front door. She paused when she saw Walter's shape still sleeping on the sofa in the living room.

"Walter's still sleeping," Olivia commented puzzled.

"Brandon will come to get him later. He promised to take Walter to see some new experiment of his at Massive Dynamic that he claims he needs help with," Astrid explained.

It wasn't unusual for Brandon to come and see Walter as now that Peter was gone, Walter missed having a scientifically minded brain around him. Nina Sharp had first suggested it and Brandon had been willing, although Olivia had a suspicion that it might also have had something to do with Astrid as the three of them sometimes took off to fairs and markets and she had seen the looks Brandon was giving Astrid.

Olivia nodded her agreement, arranging her face carefully to hide herself from the world, stepping out of the house. They were in for another day at the Fringe division. And another day without Peter.

XXX

There

Peter became aware of his sore back and complaining muscles and he groggily opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep at the lab, resting his head on top of a pile of papers that he had been working on last night.

He groaned as he straightened his back and stretched his arms above him. He then rubbed his eyes with his fists and grimaced at the long stubble at his chin.

He looked around the lab, which was empty as Brandon hadn't arrived yet, spotting his box sitting on one of the shelves. He got up rubbing his neck and reached for the box to rummage through its contents.

He had slept in the lab since crossing over and had declined any offers from William Bell to sort out an accommodation for him. Walter hadn't even offered. Peter preferred to keep himself as little attached as possible to this side as he was determined to go back, however long it took. He didn't feel any more at home on this side either and he suspected that he had been displaced from both Universes long enough that he felt ill at ease wherever he went.

He had accepted to be paid as he was helping Brandon with a Massive Dynamic project and he needed money. It just wasn't obvious to Bell or to anyone else that he was basically working to get himself home. Brandon was the only one who knew about his ulterior motive as Peter needed his co-operation.

He had bought spare clothes and toiletries keeping all of them in this box at the lab. He usually slept in a spare bed in one of the store rooms, but last night he hadn't gotten so far, which wasn't really unusual as he often worked so hard that his brain just switched off when the exhaustion became too much.

He grabbed a towel, the toiletries and the razor and a fresh set of clothes and set out to the men's bathroom on this floor. He would then go to a small restaurant off the plaza outside the Towers to have breakfast, to return to the lab before Brandon got there as had been his routine for these past long months.

Peter stepped into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked unkept, his curly hair long and messed up, his stubble could be called a beard and his bloodshot eyes betrayed that he hadn't slept properly for a long time.

He stared at his image for a while, letting himself wonder what Olivia would say about his long hair, but quickly smothered any thoughts of her. Surprisingly it was becoming more difficult not to think about her the more time passed, but he couldn't give in. It would remind him how different man he was while he had been here. How ruthless and angry, full of vengeance he was and how he had fulfilled his promise to destroy William Bell and Walter.

He could only hope that Olivia would understand or better yet, never needed to know what he had done. He hadn't physically touched either Walter or Bell, but within half a year after his crossing over, Bell had died as his body hadn't coped with all the stresses hurled at it. And Peter had been happy to provide some stress by getting into prolonged arguments with Bell to make sure that he didn't forget him, and to oppose every suggestion he had made.

Walter had become increasingly paranoid claiming that he was being poisoned, although no evidence was found. He had finally been committed to a psychiatric institute when he lost all touch with reality and became violent. Peter was thankful that he had paid attention to his father's habits of cooking up chemical cocktails, which easily escaped detection.

So this was his life and routine, for now.

XXX

When Peter came back to the lab, looking slightly less scruffy and having been fed, he was surprised to find Brandon already in.

"You are up early," he quipped causing Brandon to spill his drink as he became startled.

Peter smirked as it was one his few pleasures, to startle Brandon. They got on surprisingly well, although Peter made sure that they didn't become close friends. Brandon understood and accepted it, which made Peter's life much easier.

"I finally figured it out! I had to come in immediately to start the simulation," he exclaimed brushing his lab coat in a futile gesture.

Peter immediately paid attention and walked up to him at the computer.

"What have you got?" he asked while peeking at the screen.

"I think I figured out a way to pinpoint your Reality," Brandon said excitedly and pointed to a bunch of scribbles on a napkin. Peter peered at the equations with a frown on his face, until all of the sudden there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes and Brandon could see the way his whole face transformed.

"I think you are into something," Peter said grabbing a chair, sitting down and looking over the equations more in detail.

Brandon had been working on quantum teleportation device when he bumped into Peter. He had been able to teleport photons at that point and with Peter's help they had made progress until they could transport mice across the lab, succeeding almost every time in keeping them intact.

They still hadn't gotten around the fact that when they scanned an object to teleport it, the process itself destroyed the original and that the transported object wasn't a copy, but a brand new object.

It didn't seemed to make much of a difference with photons or even with mice as when they were compared with the original ones, they couldn't see any differences at all. However telling people that for them to be able to teleport they would essentially need to die first, wasn't going to make it such a good sales pitch.

Peter was happy for the original copy to be destroyed as when he would eventually teleport, it would mean that the entangled particle in him would be left behind to be incorporated to something else in this Reality.

His main concern was how to find the correct Reality as they had been moving back to their positions in the dance around each other making it difficult to figure out the position of one specific Reality in the multiverse. Peter would rather not be hopping all over the place in the search of home, but if it came to that he wasn't going to complain if it eventually landed him in the right place.

And now it seemed that Brandon had found something.

"It just hit me. You and Olivia are entangled thus sharing information, right?" Brandon said.

"We can work around the problem of scanning you completely to ensure your arrival in one piece to the Other Side," he continued making Peter lift his eyebrow questioningly.

"As entangled entities that have been in contact, Olivia holds information about you as you hold information about her. You yourself are both an original entity and an entangled entity," Brandon explained.

Peter was starting to understand where he was going with his theory.

"So, by scanning me we produce information which is not complete, but we also disrupt the entanglement," Peter said slowly but gathering pace, the more he thought about it.

"When we teleport that incomplete data over, the information Olivia holds about me as an entangled entity, will complete the process and produce a complete replica of me," Peter said now standing up as he was also getting excited.

"Exactly!" Brandon exclaimed.

"How didn't we see it before?" Peter wondered looking at Brandon.

"I have no idea, but all this came to me when I was thinking about the problem of locating Olivia. I think you solved it yesterday," Brandon answered.

"I did?" Peter asked surprised.

"Yes, yes. You were talking about it before I left last night. You were wondering why the entanglement didn't work as a compass, but I think it does!" Brandon said.

"That's why I'm running the simulation. If I'm right, the process of teleportation itself should direct you towards Olivia as she is the holder of the missing information and as all systems try to find a way to the lowest possible energy level, which in your case would be a complete set of data, that would logically lead to the scanned, incomplete data to seek out the missing information in its entangled counterpart, which would mean that we wouldn't need to aim the teleportation anywhere specific but spread it out as widely as possibly," he finished breathless.

Peter was finding it difficult to contain his excitement. After all these long months, maybe they had finally arrived at a solution. But Brandon had turned serious again and his face was troubled.

"What is it?" Peter asked his enthusiasm fading a little.

"It would mean that we would have no guarantees that you would arrive in one piece. It might mean that the scanning process would kill you and you would never get home," Brandon said worried.

"This is our best chance so far. Let's see what your simulation says and go over the equations. If there is a reasonable probability of it working out, I will take it," Peter said with a voice full of certainty and strength.

"Let's get to work then," Brandon said smiling.

He knew how important it was to Peter to get home as he had listened to him talk about the people back home even though Peter tried to keep his life on the Other Side separate from his life here. So he understood the risks Peter was willing to take, even if he himself considered them too high. But if Peter wanted to take the risks, it was his job to make those risks as small as possible.

The two men got down to work with renewed vigour.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So this is it. Thank you for hanging around for the ride, I hope you enjoyed the story and that it kept you entertained. I have been overwhelmed by your kind words and feedback, it has truly been a joy writing this.**

**Thank you for reviewing the previous chapter: cyn23, ElleThom, Lixie87, babypumpkin, killmotion, hoellenwauwau and smita.**

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**~Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven ~**

** Tryon Edwards **

**Chapter 12.**

There

Peter sat back at the bench. The teleportation device was calibrated carefully along the latest specifications and was ready. Brandon was clattering and banging at the back of the lab, carrying cages of mice and clearing things away so they would have enough space to scan him without accidentally adding anything. It wouldn't do for him to return with a mouse attached to his chest.

For two weeks they had laboured, but finally the odds for success were good enough in Peter's mind. He was keen to get home, not to get killed so he wasn't quite as mindlessly rash as Brandon seemed to think he was. Brandon had worked relentlessly beside him, to which Peter was grateful as his help had been invaluable. They had worked well together and Peter was already wondering whether he should get to know the Brandon back home.

For two weeks Peter had been preparing himself, getting giddy with excitement the closer the day of his return came. He had had his hair cut and had shaved this morning, although by now his stubble was back. He had let go of the anger and bitterness and had allowed himself to remember Olivia in all her glory. He had started talking about her, Walter and Astrid and Brandon had thankfully listened carefully showing interest in what he had to say. Listening himself talking about the people close to him, had made it easier to revert back to the Peter Bishop these people knew.

Talking about Olivia felt like his brain was physically rewiring itself, making connections that had been severed before. He allowed himself to openly admit that he loved her with his whole being and didn't want to be apart from her again. Spending 18 months in another Universe with no means of communication had been almost too much for him.

He was also feeling scared as what they were about to do finally hit him. Not the fact that he might not materialise in the other end, but how he would be received. He had just taken for granted that they would miss him and wait for his return, but perhaps Olivia had just gotten on with her life, deciding to block his existence from her mind as something too painful to think about. She had never openly shown her feelings, being careful after what had happened to John Scott, but Peter knew that she cared about him. And that made her vulnerable, which she hated.

Maybe Walter had regressed and was back in St. Claire's, causing him to lose his father twice. And maybe the Fringe division had been shut down, especially when the Pattern related cases must have stopped altogether. So many maybes...

Brandon walked behind Peter and rested a hand on his shoulder for a moment startling him from his thoughts.

"You will be fine. They will wait for you," Brandon said reassuring as it was easy to see what was going on in Peter's head. Since he had transformed into this whole new man he said he used to be, it had been easier to read him. And after he had been talking about the people on the Other Side, Brandon could tell that they loved him and were a loyal bunch of people. They would have waited for Peter's return.

Peter smiled at him and nodded. It didn't bother him any more to show his thoughts or feelings as he trusted this Brandon. And he was leaving soon any way so nobody could use them against him. Perhaps it was a good sign that he was worried as that told him that he was back to his old self.

Peter glanced at the computer to his left and saw that the simulation had gone without problems. The calibration had been spot on. It was time.

Brandon had cleared an area, where Peter came to stand. He looked at Brandon, who looked nervous.

"I have no idea how you will feel or if you will feel anything," Brandon said looking up from the computer.

"Just hit it," Peter said nodding, loosening up his shoulders and taking a wide stance.

To his confusion Brandon stepped away from the device and the computer and came towards him. He came to stop in front of Peter and offered his hand. Peter took it shaking it firmly.

"Thank you for everything you have done," Peter said seriously.

"You have been a friend when I needed one," he continued a little hoarsely. Even if he had tried to kept himself aloof, he had begun to like Brandon and felt a little sad that he wouldn't see him again.

"You are welcome," Brandon said shaking his hand.

"You were a great teacher in many ways," he continued, "Take care of yourself."

Peter nodded again and Brandon stepped away walking back to the computers.

"Here we go then," he said and pushed a button.

Peter felt curiously light and heavy at the same time. Rather like in the beginning of general anesthesia. His thought was cut in half when he was taken under.

XXX

Here

Olivia was exhausted. She was physically tired because of their latest case, which had taken several weeks of travelling and investigating, was finally solved and she had managed to write her report and hand it in tonight. The tiredness had significantly lowered her defences and she was yearning to get home, so she could just let everything go and drop the pretence that everything was fine.

She parked outside the Bishop's house and wearily climbed out of the car. The lights were on in the living room indicating that at least Walter was home. She could also see Astrid's car and felt relieved as it meant that she wouldn't need to look after Walter. She could go straight into the bedroom, take a long hot bath and go to bed early. She glanced her watched as she ascended the stairs and noted to her surprise that it was only 8.30 pm.

She could also recognise the signs of approaching depression and didn't have the energy to do anything about it. She would just have to live through it and hope that she would emerge from the other side as so many times before. She desperately missed Peter. It hit her again with a physical pain and she just wanted to curl up and hide in his bed.

When she entered into the living room, Astrid was reading on the sofa and based on the noises coming from the kitchen, Walter was experimenting on something. Astrid glanced up when she came in and Olivia knew that she was transparent when she could see Astrid's expression turn into alarmed and sympathetic.

Astrid got up from the sofa and came to her, taking her coat to hang it up in the closet. Olivia didn't protest and Astrid smiled sadly.

"I will make sure that Walter doesn't disturb you. If you need anything, please let me know," Astrid pleaded softly. Olivia could only nod to prevent the tears from falling. She was ready to break.

Walter had heard that Olivia had come in and he appeared from the kitchen showing off his latest milkshake flavour. He was stopped in his tracks by Astrid.

"Not now Walter," she said softly as she hugged Olivia briefly and pushed her gently towards the stairs.

Walter's face became solemn as it dawned on him what Astrid meant. Walter felt Olivia's grief almost as acutely as his own and he padded to her where she was at the foot of the stairs ready to climb up and enveloped her in a gentle hug, without saying a word.

For Olivia this was too much and she started crying as she hugged Walter back, escaping from him quickly and dashing upstairs. She was still reluctant to let anybody see her cry and the others respected that.

Walter stood with a milkshake in his hand, looking like a sad and lost child. Astrid went to him and tugged his hand guiding him back to the kitchen.

"Let's see what kind of a mess you have generated this time. I hope we don't have to wash the ceiling again..." Astrid's voice carried on as they walked causing Walter to start spluttering protests how that time had been a rare occasion as he had forgotten to put the lid on while mixing his milkshake.

XXX

Olivia undressed and shuffled to the bathroom, still crying. She didn't have the energy to stop herself and for once she wanted to let it all out. Maybe it would help with the pain.

The warm water that sloshed over her in the bath relaxed her and eased the pain in her muscles, but not in her heart. She welcomed the feeling of numbness and emptiness, but hoped against all hope that Peter would be there to fill that emptiness.

She had tried to resist first, but Peter had managed to wiggle himself under her skin and into her heart. He had become an integral part of her and his absence just made it more strikingly clear.

As she wasn't feeling guilty enough already, the one thing that she regretted with passion was that she had never told Peter how important he had become to her. She had been so afraid that she had never told him she loved him. Now she could only hope that he would find a way back before the feelings burned and consumed her entirely without an outlet.

She got out of the bath and padded back to the bedroom. She went to the chest of drawers pulling Peter's t-shirt and pair of boxers out and dressed in them. She then rummaged around to find Peter's sweater that hadn't been washed since he was gone, thus retaining his unique scent.

Olivia pressed the sweater to her face and inhaled deeply. Peter's scent stabbed her straight through the heart, but she needed him nearby tonight. Oh, how she needed him.

Olivia climbed into the bed settling down under the covers holding onto the sweater, pressing her face against it and fell into a deep, exhausted slumber as her body and mind finally gave up.

XXX

Peter became aware of himself standing under a tree, getting his feet wet in the night dew. He looked around and moved his limbs deciding that everything seemed to be in order. He felt the nervousness gripping his stomach twisting it and he stepped out from under the tree to only find himself a block away from home. Or at least what he thought was home.

He was at the same time relieved and nervous as it looked like the teleportation had indeed worked and it had deposited him on a street only few blocks away from his house, if he was in the right Universe, but so far it looked promising.

He walked along the empty streets noting that it was late at night and there were very few people around. Everybody must have been asleep. His steps gathered pace until he was running. He ran like he had never ran and arrived at the house breathless but feeling thrilled.

He noticed Olivia's car outside and felt lucky as it must mean that she was visiting and if she was around at this time, the chances of everybody being awake was good. When he glanced up at the house, the lights were indeed on.

He took the stairs running and knocked on the door as he didn't have keys. He couldn't stay still but fidgeted as he felt increasingly nervous.

The door started to open after a long pause and Astrid's face peered out. Her expression of suspicion turned into a shock and then absolute joy as she jumped on him, hugging him close and laughing.

"You made it! You came back," Astrid was crying now and she wouldn't let go of him.

Peter laughed with her and twirled her around, hugging her fiercely. When he let her down, she took his hand and pulled him inside while wiping her tears away.

The house was exactly like he remembered. Walter's bed was still in the living room as before but the man himself was nowhere to be seen. But based on the noises that were coming from the kitchen, it was easy to guess where he was.

"Walter, come here!" Astrid called out softly.

The noise stopped and Walter came out of the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw smiling Peter. He was in shock as he came slowly forwards and with trembling hands reached out to touch Peter as if making sure that he was indeed real and not a ghost.

When his hand met with a solid chest, his face turned into a huge smile and he enveloped Peter in a bear hug that he happily returned. Peter rested his face on the older man's shoulder, revelling in the feel of Walter, who was quietly clinging on to him.

Peter was openly crying now and when he pulled away from Walter, he could see that he also had tears streaming down on his face.

"You came back, my son. You came back!" he whispered reverently as he gripped Peter's hands.

Peter felt like his heart was bursting, while he hugged and laughed and cried with Walter and Astrid. He was overjoyed that he had returned into the correct Reality and to the correct people.

When things calmed down a bit, Peter gestured towards the front door.

"I saw Olivia's car outside. Is she here?" he asked.

"She's sleeping in your room," Astrid answered to Peter's surprise.

"Please go to her. She needs you," Astrid pleaded making Peter worried for Olivia.

He paused to take in the sight of Walter and Astrid once more, then took off to his room.

When he got upstairs, he saw that the door to his room was closed. He silently and carefully opened the door as he didn't want to alarm Olivia. When he stepped inside, the sight in front of him broke his heart.

In the moonlight streaming from the window he could see Olivia curled up in his bed, wearing his clothes holding his sweater in tight grip next to her face. She looked exhausted even in deep sleep and the tracks of tears on her cheeks were still visible.

Peter felt close to bursting with emotions and he just wanted to run to Olivia to scoop her up and never let go. But he quietly closed the door, shed his jacket and shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He brushed the blonde hair away from her face, full of wonder when the silken strands touched his hand. Olivia didn't stir. He lightly stroked her hair, enjoying the feel of it, enjoying the feel of living, breathing Olivia under his hand. Olivia's eye lashes fluttered a little.

Peter moved his shaking hand to gently stroke Olivia's face, his fingers trembling as he followed the lines in her beautiful face. Olivia stirred and groggily opened her eyes. She looked at him as he beamed a smile at her, but closed her eyes again.

"Why are my dreams so cruel," Peter could hear Olivia mumbling as tears slipped from under her eyelids.

"Not a dream," Peter whispered continuing his caress of Olivia's face and hair. He bent down and placed a warm, tender kiss on her forehead. He just managed to avoid hitting their heads together as Olivia bolted upright on the bed. She looked at him wide eyed while clutching to his sweater.

"Olivia," Peter whispered, his voice breaking as he reached for her.

"Peter?" Olivia asked quietly in a small voice.

"I'm here," Peter answered with a watery smile and was attacked by Olivia who launched herself at him throwing her arms around his neck.

They held each other tightly, their tears mingling together. Neither spoke as time for that would be later. For now they wanted reassurance that what they felt was real, that they had been reunited against all odds.

They were both trembling with the weight of their feelings and shock and Peter slowly lowered Olivia back on the bed while she was clinging to him, not wanting to let go.

Peter laid down next to her and gathered her in his arms holding her very tightly close to his chest. He pressed his face against her hair and inhaled the scent of Olivia, while he could feel her burrowing to him as closely as possible, pressing her nose so closely against his neck that he was unsure whether she could still breathe.

They laid under the covers, holding each other as sleep finally took hold of them. Peter pulled back a little to be able to look down at Olivia, who blinked up at him half asleep. Peter smiled at the adorable sight and gently captured her lips in a tender kiss before lying back down.

"I'm where I belong," Peter's last thought was, before he succumbed to sleep.

"I'm home."

**The end**


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